Earth Observation (EO) applications and technologies are used in a wide range of applications. Sixteen downstream market segments have been identified by EUSPA, in which applications powered or enabled by Earth Observation play an influential role. These are monitored and reported on regularly in the EUSPA EO and GNSS Market Report. The sectors range from Agriculture to Urban Development and Cultural Heritage1, and address end users across public and private sectors, including individual citizens.
A healthy, growing market for data and services
EO revenues for data and services are forecast to double from roughly €2.8 billion to over €5.5 billion over the next decade. In 2021, over half of global revenue was generated by the top five segments: Urban Development and Cultural Heritage, Agriculture, Climate Services, Energy and Raw Materials, and Infrastructure. It is forecast that the Insurance and Finance segment (i.e. €145 m and 5.2% in 2021) will realise substantial growth over the next decade and become the largest contributor to global EO revenues in 2031 (with. €995 m and an 18.2% market share), boosted by the growing use and demand for parametric insurance products in the context of disaster resilience frameworks.
The total revenues for EO data in 2021 accumulate to €536 m across all segments. From 2021, the EO data market will see a CAGR of 3.5% by 2031, resulting in €797 m total revenues.
The EO value-added services market is considerably larger and accumulated globally a total of €2.2 bn in 2021 within the same scope of market segments. From 2021, the EO value-added services market will see a CAGR of 6.8%, resulting in €4.7 bn total revenues by 2031.
As presented in the figure below, in which each segment’s market share growth is illustrated over the 2021-2031 timeframe for both data and value-added service revenues, the Insurance and Finance segment is expected to experience the fastest growth over the next decade. Segments in the darker zone are those which are projected to grow faster than others, while those in the lighter zone will experience slower growth. This can be explained by the degree of maturity of the segment. More mature market segments will experience smaller year-on-year growth than emergent markets in which the customer base is not yet well established. For instance, a mature segments such as Energy and Raw Materials has a slow and constant growth rate. Conversely, Insurance and Finance is a rapidly increasing segment with high growth rate.
To learn more about the EO market, please download our latest EUSPA EO and GNSS market report.
- 1. The 16 sectors focused on EO are Agriculture; Aviation and Drones; Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Natural Capital; Climate Services; Consumer Solutions, Tourism and Health; Emergency Management and Humanitarian Aid; Energy and Raw Materials; Environmental Monitoring; Fisheries and Aquaculture; Forestry; Infrastructure; Insurance and Finance; Maritime and Inland Waterways; Rail; Road and Automotive; Urban Development and Cultural Heritage.