Commercial Drone Services Market

Commercial Drone Services Market Outlook (2023 to 2033)

The global commercial drone services market is expected to reach a valuation of US$ 5.8 billion in 2023 and is projected to climb to US$ 23.0 billion by 2033, expanding at a healthy CAGR of 14.8% during the forecast period of 2023 to 2033.

The commercial drone services market is about 85% of the overall drone services market which was about US$ 6.6 billion in 2023.

Report Attributes	Details
Market Size (2022A)	US$ 5.0 Billion
Estimated Market Value (2023E)	US$ 5.8 Billion
Forecasted Market Value (2033F)	US$ 23.0 Billion
Global Market Growth Rate (2023 to 2033)	~14.8% CAGR
North America Market Share (2022)	~29.0%
East Asia Market Growth Rate (2023 to 2033)	~15.7% CAGR
United States Market Growth Rate (2023 to 2033)	~14.5% CAGR
Key Companies Profiled	Aerial drone solution; Aerial Vision Ltd; AERIUM Analytics; Aerodrome; Aero Enterprises; Astral Aerial Solutions; Celestis; Cyberhawk; Dronegy; DJM Aerial Solutions; Drone Base; Drone Dispatch; Drone Evolution; DDC Smart Inspection; EagleHawk; Enterprise UAS

Growing popularity of commercial drones in public safety and emergency services

Commercial drones are gaining popularity in public safety and emergency services like search & rescue operations. These drones have substantial utility in helping responders with the mapping & imagery technology about adverse situations. Search & rescue teams are benefited from drones by searching for survivors in any emergencies, assessing property & infrastructure damage, identifying hot spots, and many more.

With the growing natural disasters and humans driven emergencies, the demand for technologies & services like commercial drone services to efficiently initiate rescue operations will escalate the market growth. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the number of disasters has grown in the past 50 years by a factor of 5 owing to climate change and others. Therefore, increasing natural disasters & fatal accidents worldwide will stimulate the commercial drone services market.

• Short Term (2023 Q1-2026): Post-COVID, the market is expected to rise at a significant pace. The penetration of commercial drones for medicine and food delivery has gained huge popularity and is expected to be a leading reason for market expansion in a short-term period.
• Medium Term (2026 to 2029): In the medium term, the market is projected to rise with growth in infrastructure development worldwide. The commercial drone service provider offers building, bridge, and other infrastructure inspection, mapping, and surveying services to clients.
• Long Term (2029 to 2033): Growing popularity of the e-commerce sector and people's preference towards online shopping is escalating the demand for time and cost-efficient solutions like commercial drone services.

As per Fact.MR, a market research and competitive intelligence provider, in North America holds the leading share of 29.0% in the global commercial drone services market.

The image depicts the bifurcation of the commercial drone services market into regions and service types. In service type, mapping and surveying hold the largest share with 35.0%.

Factors Escalating the Demand for Commercial Drone Services

“Increasing demand for photography & videography services”

Commercial drones these days are highly in demand for photography & filming purposes. In cinematography, these drones are capable of taking shots from angles that might be impossible to achieve by humans. Also, improves productivity & efficiency in cinematography services.

Drones are sterling technology, gaining popularity in weddings and events. As drones are capable of capturing shots that are more illustrative and attractive to the viewer and establishing a prominent display of weddings & events scope and scenic context. Also, commercial drone services for aerial photography and video shoots are highly benefited for the advertising industry, where attractive marketing campaigns could be initiated for the customer with high-quality & engaging content. Moreover, the real estate industry highly benefited from the service sector, where visually appealing & detailed photos and videos are captured to display among customers for increasing property sales.

“Escalating demand for delivery services”

The worldwide utility of drones for delivery services is in trend. Commercial drones are getting registered with government authorities & luring approval for drone delivery services worldwide. In August 2020, Amazon, a leading e-commerce company received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to provide package delivery services with the help of drones. Owing to this factor, the demand for commercial drone services is driving at a substantial rate in the forthcoming period.

Food and medicine delivery is another service that has been operating with the help of drones post-COVID spread. Food & medicine are delivered to the deprived individuals without contamination, with zero contact, and maintaining the social distancing regulation. Afterward, the cost & time efficiency of these services to the delivery package by avoiding traffic congestion, reducing carbon emission, and other factors has escalated the demand for commercial drone services market.

Key Reason for Market’s Growth Restriction

“Stringent norms on operating commercial drones”

The government has somewhat lenient regulations for drones operation for recreational purposes than commercial ones. Drone users both individuals and businesses are required to meet certain regulations & norms on the utility of drones which is subject to hamper commercial drone services worldwide.

The government worldwide has framed strict regulations on pilots operating commercial drones. In the United States, commercial drone operators or pilots are required to have remote pilot certification to operate drones. Moreover, Government in many countries has framed strict regulations to operate a drone in crowded places or far away from sight without an FAA waiver. Due to the strict regulation on operating drones for commercial purposes, market expansion is expected to be get hampered.

Country-wise Insights

United States to hold leading share in commercial drone services market

With a substantial rise in the registration of commercial drones, the demand for commercial drone services is highly fragmented in the region. In the United States, about 870,389 drones have been registered till 2022 out of which about 38% are commercial drones.

The country is observed with increasing technological advancement and adoption in different industry verticals. To offer cost & time-efficient delivery services in the region, e-commerce giants like Amazon are taking favorable initiatives towards launching drone package delivery services. Also, online food delivery channels are taking strategic moves towards delivering food with the help of commercial drones in the region. Owing to all these factors, the market is projected to rise at a substantial rate in the country.

Moreover, despite the strict regulations on drone utility in public places, currently, FAA has made necessary amendments regarding the utility of commercial drones at the night and in public places, which is escalating the market growth.

China to grow with fastest CAGR during forecast period

China's commercial drone services market is projected to rise with a healthy CAGR of 16.3%.

The utility of commercial drones has grown substantially in the region post-COVID-19 spread. Retailers have utilized drone services to provide food & medicine to the people, maintaining social distancing and considering zero-contact delivery to avoid infectious diseases.

The economy has faced issues relevant to last-mile deliveries and cargo bottlenecks, therefore, the government has framed norms regarding the adoption of commercial drone services to offer product deliveries in distant rural areas. Additionally, e-commerce giants like JD.com and Alibaba in the country have taken initiatives and tested for drone delivery services to offer cost & time-efficient services to clients from rural areas. These factors will significantly escalate the demand for commercial drone services in the country.

Category-wise Insights

Mapping & Surveying to exhibit leading share in service type

Mapping & surveying accounts for a leading share of 35.0% in the global commercial drone services market.

Rising demand for commercial drone services in the construction industry and agriculture sector are major factors attributing to the segment’s growth. As commercial drones play an essential role in monitoring and tracking equipment & construction sites. With mapping services offered by commercial drones, better, accurate, and quality visual data of sites is been presented to the engineers which helps overcome certain faults & improvements to the site.

Additionally, mapping through commercial drones will offer information regarding planting & harvesting, livestock tracking, and others with the help of commercial drone services. Owing to all these factors, the mapping & surveying services are expected to rise at a significant rate.

Energy sector attributes most utility of commercial drone services

Commercial drones are used for inspecting, mapping & surveying energy infrastructure and will continue to rise in the forecast period with the increasing energy industry. Commercial drone services are highly utilized in the energy sector due to their quick & accurate inspection services than a human being, as though flying around an object and with the help of a camera, drones capture more accurate data with optimum quality than a person.

Also, energy plants are big and it becomes costly for a human to inspect the energy plants manually, owing to this reason commercial drone services are obtained which is a time as well as a cost-efficient solution to inspect energy plants. Energy infrastructure is also dangerous to a human when having a manual inspection therefore, drones are a suitable option for business owners. Moreover, drones are comprised of LiDAR, thermal and other sensors which efficiently help in mapping & surveying a plant.

Competitive Landscape

Key market players in the commercial drone services market are Aerial drone solution, Aerial Vision Ltd., AERIUM Analytics, Aerodrome, Aero Enterprises, Astral Aerial Solutions, Celestis, Cyberhawk, Dronegy, DJM Aerial Solutions, Drone Base, Drone Dispatch, Drone Evolution, DDC Smart Inspection, EagleHawk, and Enterprise UAS.

The market is highly competitive with the increasing popularity of drone services in various industry verticals. Market players are taking favorable moves regarding service launches and mergers & acquisitions to stay competitive in the market. This factor is leading to the tremendous expansion of the commercial drone services market. For instance,

• In April 2022, Wing a drone delivery company in the United States introduced the first-ever commercial drone delivery services in the United States.
• In September 2022, Valqari acquired IDU Group to establish a drone delivery infrastructure by offering mail, packages, and others with the help of drones.

Fact.MR has provided detailed information about the provider of commercial drone services market positioned across regions, revenue growth, and service offering expansion, in the recently published report.

Segmentation of the Commercial Drone Services Market

• By Service Type:

  • Mapping & Surveying
  • Inspection
  • Photography & Filming
  • Localization & Detection
  • Delivery
  • Spraying & Seeding
  • Others (Not Covered Elsewhere)

• By End-use Industry:

  • Energy
  • Construction
  • Transportation & Warehouse
  • Agriculture
  • Mining, Oil & Gas Extraction
  • Public Administration
  • Real Estate & Industrial Plant
  • Entertainment & Recreational
  • Safety & Security
  • Educational Services
  • Waste Management
  • Healthcare & Insurance

• By Region:

  • North America
  • Latin America
  • Europe
  • East Asia
  • South Asia & Oceania
  • Middle East & Africa