SINGAPORE - Software piracy increased last year in the Asia-Pacific region, boosted by China's growing use of personal computers, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The Asia-Pacific's average PC software piracy rate in 2007 increased to 59 percent of the software in use in the region from 55 percent the previous year, said the Business Software Alliance (BSA), which works to fight piracy.

The increase was largely because of China's growing share of the region's overall PC market, it said.

Losses from software piracy in the region rose to more than 14 billion US dollars in 2007 from almost 12 billion dollars in 2006, BSA said as it released a global study of the problem.

BSA's members include Microsoft, Apple, McAfee and other major industry players.

It says piracy includes illegal manufacture, the retail sale of pirated software, unauthorised downloading or uploading, and use of unlicensed software by businesses.

Jeffrey Hardee, BSA's vice president and regional director, said the Asia-Pacific market for PC software is growing rapidly as incomes rise in emerging economies.

The high growth rate for PC sales in countries such as China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam, which have large populations, is resulting in a higher loss from piracy compared with mature markets, he said.

China's software piracy rate had fallen in three previous years but held steady at 82 percent from 2006 to 2007 as PC shipments to homes and small businesses grew rapidly, BSA said.

Excluding Australia, Japan and New Zealand, the Asia-Pacific piracy rate would be higher than 70 percent, it said.

Expanding usage of the Internet in the region could also worsen piracy through illegal downloading of software and unauthorised sharing of files, Hardee said.

Bangladesh had the highest Asian piracy rate in 2007, at 92 percent, followed by Sri Lanka's 90 percent, BSA said. Vietnam was third-highest with 88 percent.

Armenia's 93 percent piracy rate was the highest in the world and the United States had the lowest rate at 20 percent, BSA said.

Global research group IDC conducted the study of 108 countries, BSA added. --AFP