Worldwide spending on 3D printing to $12B in 2018

By 2021, IDC expects worldwide spending near $20.0 billion with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.5%. 3D printers and materials will account for two-thirds of the worldwide spending total throughout the forecast, reaching $6.9 billion and $6.7 billion, respectively, in 2021. Services spending will trail, reaching $5.5 billion in 2021, led by on-demand parts services and systems integration services. Software purchases will grow slower than the overall market with a five-year CAGR of 18.6%.

Discrete manufacturing, the dominant industry, will deliver more than half of worldwide spending.

Marianne D’Aquila, research manager, customer insights & analysis at IDC, says, “Parts for new products, aftermarket parts, dental objects, and medical support objects will continue to see significant growth opportunities over the next five years as 3D printing goes more mainstream. The healthcare industry is also poised to double its share of spending through 2021 as the benefits of cost-effective customized printing continue to be realized.”

By 2021, dental objects and medical support objects will be the fourth and fifth largest use cases. The two use cases that will see the fastest spending growth are tissue/organ/bone (56.6% CAGR) and dental objects (36.9% CAGR).

The United States will have the largest spending total in 2018 ($4.1 billion) followed by Western Europe ($3.5 billion) and China ($1.5 billion). Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are fourth, followed by the Middle East and Africa (MEA), and the rest of the Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan). The regions that will see the fastest growth throughout the 2017-2021 forecast period are Latin America (27.2% CAGR) and CEE (26.0% CAGR).