Drone market size expected to double in next five years, report suggests

The global drone market size is expected to be worth $42.8 billion by 2025 — at least that’s according to a report from German-based drone research firm Drone Industry Insights. The data is based on The Drone Market Report 2020-2025, which was released at the end of June.

The global drone market is on track to generate an estimated $22.5 billion in 2020. And experts predict it will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.8%, which means it will just about double in value by 2025 to be worth $42.8 billion.

Though that drone market size might sound like an enormous figure, it’s actually not as enormous as experts predicted — due in large part to the fact that no one predicted coronavirus.

“It is a less optimistic picture than what we saw in 2019, but nevertheless shows that the commercial drone industry remains resilient in spite of emerging challenges,” according to a report from Drone Industry Insights.

It’s also due to a natural leveling out from the explosive growth that the industry saw in the mid 2010s. And that’s not a bad thing.

“The drone industry has matured from explosive and exponential growth to steady returns, increased adoption and a step up from the so called trough of disillusionment,” according to DII.

Much of that growth is centered in the energy sector, which is already the largest industry on the commercial drone market. But the second-largest sector expected to see huge growth is “transportation and warehousing.” Given the proliferation of drone deliveries especially in recent months since the coronavirus outbreak, coupled with developments in Remote ID and UTM, that’s not exactly a groundbreaking result.

And it’s not just drone services expected to grow. Drone sales themselves are expected to double.

DII predicts that the commercial drone industry will sell 1 million individual drones annually by 2021. And between 2020 and 2025, drone sales are expected to double. But it’s not consumer drones like DJI Mavic drones that people will buy. DII actually predicts that private or hobbyist drone unit sales will decrease in that period — meaning it’s on the enterprise users to demonstrate that rapid growth.

Of course, coronavirus has rocked the entire world economy, and the drone industry is no exception.

“Few industries will emerge out of the COVID-19 pandemic unscathed,” according to a report from DII.

But it’s not necessarily all bad.

“The commercial drone has also already made gains during the pandemic thanks to medical applications of commercial drones amongst many other automated solutions. Drone companies like Zipline and Wing have been able to deliver and scale their solutions quicker than previously expected. As a result, the industry as a whole is likely to feel the economic effects of the pandemic, but certain portions of it might feel those affects very differently to others.”