Asian economies led by China can reap a financial windfall and create hundreds of thousands of jobs in a few years by cracking down on software piracy, an industry study showed today.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) and research group IDC said nearly 60 per cent of the software programmes installed on personal computers in 2009 across the world's largest region were unlicensed.

Reducing software piracy to about 50 per cent in four years would produce almost 41 billion dollars in economic activity, create 350,000 new jobs and generate nearly nine billion dollars in taxes, according to the joint study.

Achieving the same reduction in two years would boost the economic benefits for the region by another 33 per cent, a press statement said.

Worldwide, a cut in piracy rates from the current 42 per cent to 32 per cent over four years would add 142 billion dollars to the global economy, 500,000 new jobs and 32 billion dollars in tax revenues, the study said.

Roland Chan, BSA's senior regional director for marketing, said the Asia-Pacific region will capture "more than three fifths" of the new jobs forecast be generated globally because of the size of the market.

"Reducing software piracy is an opportunity to inject much-needed stimulus into Asia Pacific economies," he said.