Global State of Drones 2024
Global State of Drones 2024
Global State of Drones 2024
Authors:
Kay Wackwitz
Ed Alvarado
©2024 Drone Industry Insights,
Esteban Zanelli
Hamburg, Germany, all rights reserved
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4
INTRODUCTORY FACTS OF THE GLOBAL STATE OF DRONES 5
DRONE OPERATION 7
EXPECTATIONS VS. REALITY 9
MARKET DEVELOPMENTS BREAKDOWN 10
RESOURCES 12
BIGGEST CHALLENGES FOR THE DRONE INDUSTRY 14
DRIVING FACTORS IN A DYNAMIC MARKET 16
PARTNER DRONE EVENTS AND DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS 17
ABOUT DRONE INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 18
TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Most Represented Countries on Global Drone Industry Survey 5
Figure 2: Survey Respondents by Market Segment 5
Figure 3: Company Size Respondents 5
Figure 4: Main Applied Methods 7
Figure 5: Reasons for Adopting Drones 7
Figure 6: Market Development in the Next 12 Months and Their Reflections on the Past 12 Months 9
Figure 7: Market Development in the Last/Next 12 Months by Market Segment 10
Figure 8: Survey Respondents’ Answers to What They Allocate Their Resources To 12
Figure 9: Biggest Challenge for the industry 14
Figure 10: Survey Respondents’ Assessment of the Most Important Market-Driving Actors in the Drone Industry 16
3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Welcome to the seventh annual Global Drone Industry Survey industry expectations vs reality over time
results. This year, the survey collected 964 responses from 94
Before the pandemic, expectations and market performance
countries.
converged, but COVID-19 caused a significant disruption. The
Who participated in 2024 pandemic sparked interest in drone applications (especially
AAM and delivery), which led to a surge in expectations. The
One exciting trend is the decreasing concentration of responses
reality fell short of these inflated hopes, resulting in a record gap
from the top 10 countries, which now account for 56% of all
between expectations and reality in 2021. But since then, the
responses. To put it differently, the data represents an
industry has shown more steady and cautious optimism, with
increasing number of companies from various countries outside
expectations and perceived reality steadily improving.
the well-known markets.
Global challenges and priorities
The service sector remains the largest, though slightly smaller
than in 2023. Hardware manufacturers increased their share in Regulatory obstacles remain the top challenge for the drone
participation, possibly influenced by strong participation from industry 2024, as they have been since the survey's inception.
countries like India, which is ramping up work to build its Notable shifts in industry concerns include client acquisition
domestic drone economy. rising to second place, while previously prominent issues like
public acceptance and inflation have significantly decreased in
Company size distribution reveals again that 55% of
importance. The survey also reveals an increased concern
respondents represent small companies with fewer than ten
about acquiring funding for scaling up and a growing focus on
employees. However, the survey also captured insights from
domestic politics over geopolitical issues.
several larger entities with over 5,000 employees, reflecting the
industry's diverse scale. As for the top priorities for drone companies, most of them
continue to prioritize marketing & sales, followed by software
How and why companies use drones
development. Nevertheless, rule-making authorities continue to
Mapping & Surveying continues to be the most common drone be considered the #1 market-driving factor.
application. Notably, Inspection has risen to second place while
We want to explicitly thank our global partners for their support
Photography & Filming has dropped to third place. Spraying &
in distributing the survey.
Dispensing are more prevalent in-house than sold as a service,
while drone-based delivery is perceived as an external service.
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INTRODUCTORY FACTS OF THE GLOBAL STATE OF DRONES
The 7th annual Drone Industry Survey took place from May to of responses (2023: 65%; 2022: 71%). This steady decrease in
July of 2024. Over the course of eleven weeks, it collected a representation from the top 10 countries is an encouraging sign
total of 964 responses (2023: 1,113) from a record 94 that the survey is penetrating more corners of the globe.
countries (2023: 85). The three leading countries in terms of Furthermore, the top 10 list features countries from 4 out of 6
representation were all from three separate continents. Those continents (none from Oceania and South America).
countries are: United States (198 responses), India (54), and
The survey was distributed via the Drone Industry Insights
Spain (44).
newsletter and social media accounts as well as by supporting
Overall, the top 10 most-represented countries account for 56% partners and their distribution channels. A comprehensive list of
these partners can be found at the end of the report.
1 United States
2 India
3 Spain
4 Italy
5 Germany
6 South Korea
7 United Kingdom
8 South Africa
9 Malaysia
10 Japan
74% 531
211
18% 100
7% 30 24 19 16 10 23
Fig 2: Survey Respondents by Market Segment (n=964) Fig 3: Company Size of Respondents (n=964)
The service sector includes services like training, testing, was likely due to India’s high level of involvement.
engineering, maintenance, and drone service providers, among
Software's share decreased compared to last year (2023: 8%).
others. The number of Drone service providers (DSPs)
increased to 49% of the service sector (not pictured in the Most respondents (55%) were small companies with less than
graph). ten employees, followed by those with 11 to 50 employees
(22%), which fits with the data that most of the drone industry
The share of hardware manufacturers increased to 18% from
comprises small companies. Yet, there were also 33 responses
14% in 2023. In previous years, more hardware responses were
from companies with over 5,000 employees.
likely caused by high participation from China and this year; it
5
In 2024 it can be said that improving
work safety is the #1 reason to use
drones, followed by improving quality.
6
DRONE OPERATION
All the featured operators below are either Drone Service among BIS firms (2023: DSP: 25%; BIS: 16%).
Providers (DSPs) or Business-Internal Services (BIS). DSPs
▪ Photography & Filming fell to third place for both types of
provide drone services to other companies in diverse industries
companies, representing 22% of DSP activities and 25% of
(e.g., energy, construction, agriculture). Conversely, BIS
BIS application methods (2023: DSP: 27%; BIS: 31%).
companies utilize drones for internal operations and do not
provide services to external clients. ▪ The remaining methods - Spraying & Dispensing, Delivery,
and Localization & Tracking – represent shares between 1%
The most significant findings from the survey include:
and 9% for DSPs and BIS entities. Perhaps most interesting
▪ Mapping & Surveying continues to be the dominant is the contrast in Spraying and Dispensing, where almost 1
method for drone applications, used by 34% of DSP in 10 BIS companies use drones for this task, but only 5% of
companies and 31% of BIS. This share increased slightly for DSPs perform this as a service. This suggests that in
both since 2023 (DSP: 33%; BIS: 37%). industries like Agriculture (where Spraying & Dispensing is
most common), companies would rather buy and use a
▪ This year, the Inspection method climbed to second place,
drone themselves than hire it as an external service.
claiming a 31% share among DSPs and a 26% share
9%
5% 6%
4%
1% 2% 2% 1%
Mapping & Inspection Photography & Spraying & Delivery Localization & Other
Surveying Filming Dispensing Tracking
Fig 4: Main Applied methods (multiple answers possible, DSP:263; BIS:85)
What were your main reasons for adopting Why use drones? On a 1-5 scale, from not important to very
drones? important, the survey asked BIS operators about the four core
reasons for adopting drone technology, and the results are
not important
slightly important
always intriguing to analyze.
important
considerably important When looking at what the industry considers “very important”,
very important the top reasons to adopt drones are [in order]: improving work
safety (64%), improving quality (61%), and saving time (55%).
Improving
12% 18% 64% However, adding a bit more nuance and taking “considerably
work safety
important” and “important” into consideration provides a three-
Improving way draw between these top reasons (combined 94% each).
15% 18% 61%
quality
Perhaps the best solution is to simply focus on “very important”
and “considerably important”, in which case the original ranking
Saving time 27% 12% 55% remains the same. Therefore, in 2024, it can be said that
improving work safety is the #1 reason to use drones, followed
by improving quality.
Saving costs 33% 15% 36%
Finally, “saving costs” is decisively last place, considering the
high initial cost for companies to buy drones and train
personnel. However, it is worth mentioning that the number of
Fig 5: Reasons for Adopting Drones (n=33)
BIS who participated in 2024 was roughly half that of 2023,
suggesting a more limited sample size.
7
Since 2021, drone company expectations
have risen more cautiously, and perceived
reality has also improved at a steady and
realistic pace.
8
EXPECTATIONS VS. REALITY
The Global Drone Industry Survey tracks companies' annual industry climbed dramatically to 7.2. However, the subsequent
projections for the ever-shifting drone market. The graph below survey revealed extreme disappointment with reality (5.6),
shows the interplay between foresight and hindsight (ex- bringing the gap between expectations and reality to a record
ante versus ex-post) over the past years. In other words, the 1.6.
blue line shows foresight/expectation reported before the year
Nevertheless, once the global economies overcame the effects
in question, while the grey represents hindsight/ experience of
of the pandemic, the global drone industry again showed a
the last year.
rising level of both expectations and reality. Since 2021,
Up until the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, expectations expectations have risen more cautiously, and perceived reality
(represented in blue) and reality (shown in grey) converged has also improved at a steady and realistic pace.
from a gap of 1.4 in 2018 to 0.8 in 2019 and 0.3 in 2020.
With expectations reaching a score of 6.8 for 2024, it would
However, the pandemic brought increased [positive] attention to
seem that perceived reality might land roughly at a score of 6.2
various segments in the drone industry, including drone delivery
or 6.3, but that is a question that next year’s survey will answer.
and AAM. Once the general public became more aware of the
benefits that these can bring, the expectations within the
7.2
6.8 “Expectations“
6.6 6.6
6.3 6.3
5.9 5.8 6.1 “Reality“
6.0 5.6 5.9
Last 12 Months
Next 12 Months
0 - dramatically falling
2018 2019 2019 2020 2020 2021 2021 2022 2022 2023 2023 2024 2024 Year of the survey
Fig. 6: Market Development in the next 12 Months and Their Reflections on the Past 12 Months (n=845)
9
MARKET DEVELOPMENTS BREAKDOWN
Breaking down expectations and reality into various In the service sector, all subsegments experienced peak
subsegments provides a more accurate analysis of how drone expectations in 2021, followed by a substantial decrease in
companies in various industries may be performing. As before, 2022 and a minor resurgence in 2023 and 2024. Drone
expectation is indicated by a dark blue line, while light blue integration and engineering companies are the only ones with
indicates actual market development for the past 12 months. diminished expectations for 2024 (6.8), yet market development
has steadily risen. Despite somewhat fluctuating expectations,
Within hardware, perhaps the most striking observation is that
drone training and education companies have reported
counter-drone systems manufacturers are quite volatile.
gradually improved experience ever since 2020. Drone
Expectations and reality converged until 2021, but since then,
operators for business-internal services (BIS) have a slight
there has been a mismatch of expectations and reality. Drone
increase in expectations in 2024 (5.8) after experiencing a
components and systems manufacturers have experienced
positive 2023 (5.2) while Drone Service Providers (DSPs)
a gradual decline in market development since 2020 despite
reported the same expectations as 2023 (6.7) after an improved
some rising expectations, and expectations for 2024 are at an
year (6.1).
all-time high (7.4). Hardware [platform] manufacturers have
experienced steadily rising expectations while also gradually Software manufacturers as usual find themselves in a
increasing market development since 2020. Finally, Passenger relatively steady position. Their expectations and reality
drone manufacturers faced a less favorable year in 2023 (5.6) generally show a slow and steady increase over four years.
but carry a high expectation of 6.9 for 2024.
Hardware Software
8,3 8,8
7,5 7,2 7,3 7,4 7,2 7,4 7,4 7,5 7,0 6,6 7,0 6,9 7,3 7,7 7,3 7,4 7,5
6,5 6,7 6,6 6,4
5,6 6,3
7,0 6,8
5,9 6,3 6,4 6,3 6,1 6,1 6,2 6,2 6,0 6,2 6,5 6,3 6,6 6,3 6,2 6,4 6,6
6,0 6,0 5,6
5,0
5,0 5,0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Services
Drone Integration/ Drone Training and Drone Service Business-internal Other (Insurance,
Engineering Education Provider Drone Operation Maintenance, etc.)
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Fig. 7: Market Development in the Last and Next 12 Months by Market Segment (n=845)
10
Year over year, roughly one-third of
participants consider marketing & sales
among their top priorities.
12
RESOURCES
Which resources do drone companies prioritize? To see priorities. Not surprisingly, this year’s results, once again, show
what they are mostly investing their time and energy in, the that marketing & sales are the leading priority for the next 12
survey asked drone companies for their priorities regarding months. This has been the strongest trend over the years since
resource allocation. Figure 9 shows those resource distribution the Global Drone Industry Survey began.
Which of these are your company's top priorities for the next 12 months?
(Multiple selection possible)
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Fig. 8: Survey Respondents’ Answers to What They Allocate Their Resources To (multiple answers possible, n=845)
Year over year, roughly one-third of participants consider staff because new staff are already prepared? Or are
marketing and sales among their top priorities. This has grown companies simply investing less in their people and more in
from around 27-29% until 2021 to around 31-33% since then. their products? More research would be necessary to reach a
Though this figure may vary slightly and perhaps increase, it is conclusive answer to these questions.
unlikely to experience major changes and is less likely to
Meanwhile, hardware development has seen a slight uptick
decrease.
from 12% in 2022 to 15% in 2024, though this is barely reaching
The number two priority reported in 2024 was software the levels of 16-18% from 2019-2021.
development, with a more humble score of 17%, which is
Lastly, the "Other" category encompasses various areas such
unchanged from 2023. This has also remained stable at 19-
as international expansion, enhancing drone operations,
20% until 2021 and a lower 16-17% since then.
fostering business development, acquiring new drones, and
Conversely, finances & funding have seen importance staff training.
gradually rise from 12% in 2019 to 16% in 2024 and only a
slight dip in 2021. Though this increase could also be seen as a
safe average of 15-16% which were the scores in 4 of 6 years.
13
Inflation was the dominant topic last
year (rank 3), yet it fell dramatically to
8th place in 2024.
14
BIGGEST CHALLENGE OF THE INDUSTRY
Which of these do you consider to be the biggest challenge for the industry as a whole?
1 1 Regulatory obstacles
2 2 Client acquisition
3 3 Domestic politics
5 5 Public awareness/acceptance
9 9 Logistics
10 10 Geopolitics
For the second year in a row, the survey asked drone Another important change was the increased number of
professionals to rank the biggest challenge for the entire drone respondents considering acquiring additional funding to
industry. The results are shown in Figure 9, and they definitively scale up as a major challenge. This issue climbed in rank from
show that regulatory obstacles remain the biggest challenge for 8th in 2023 to 4th in 2024 and one potential explanation is that
the industry. This topic has remained the number one concern It’s getting harder for drone companies to get later-stage
globally for as long as the drone industry survey has been funding to scale their business.
around.
When it comes to politics, the issue of domestic politics
Interestingly, public awareness/acceptance was considered climbed in importance from 5th to 3rd place, while geopolitics
the second most important factor in 2023 but fell to 5th priority in fell from 9th to 10th. In other words, drone companies perceive
2024. Similarly, the topic of inflation was dominant in 2023 local politics as more of a challenge than international
(reaching the third spot), yet it dropped dramatically to 8th place dynamics.
in 2024. Economic cycles are only temporary, and the fall from
Finally, finding qualified personnel climbed slightly from 7th to
third to eighth place proves that the omnipresent conversation
6th place. Meanwhile, logistics was ranked as the least
about inflation in 2023 is no longer a primary concern in 2024.
important challenge of 2023 but grew slightly in importance in
Client acquisition climbed from 5th place in 2023 to 2nd in 2024.
2024, essentially swapping places with public acceptance.
However, it is interesting to note that competition within the
industry fell from 6th to 7th. This would suggest that drone
companies consider finding clients a challenge, but they likely
see this as not caused by increased competition.
15
With more rules being implemented and
taken into effect around the world,
regulation is perhaps starting to be seen
as less of a [negative] “challenge” and
more of a [positive] “market driver”.
16
DRIVING FACTORS IN A DYNAMIC MARKET
The survey determined that the top market-driving factor, third place this year, though the gap between them and
according to participants, is once again rule-making manufacturers is slightly higher than last year.
authorities. The share of participants who considered rule-
Software manufacturers are again in fourth place but received
making authorities as the top market drivers increased from
the lowest score they have ever had (26%). Curiously, there is a
52% last year to 57% this year. In other words, regulation
very clear pattern of yearly zigzagging (i.e., decrease, increase,
remained the top challenge (previous page), but with more
decrease, etc.) in their reported importance.
regulations being implemented and taking effect around the
world, regulation is perhaps starting to be seen as less of a Organizations of safety concepts (e.g., JARUS, ASTM)
[negative] “challenge” and more of a [positive] “market driver”. remain rather low (19%). However, it is essential to reiterate
that these organizations focus on safety concepts and design
This year, the slightly higher representation of hardware
rather than safety oversight and enforcement, meaning they
manufacturers also translated into higher perceived
have little enforcement authority.
importance (51%). As noted last year, hardware manufacturers
have seen increased importance in the two years when China The importance of drone associations reached its lowest point
was a major participant in the survey (2021 and 2023), and this since being added as an option in 2022. Market-driving factors
year, perhaps due to higher participation from India, among in the “other” category (6%) include customers/end-users,
other factors. workforce training, adoption of BVLOS, media, technology
applicators, etc.
Ever since the first survey in 2018, the perceived importance of
Drone operators/DSPs has steadily increased. They remain in
57%
53% 53%
49%
52% 51%
45%
47%
45%
47%
43% 44% 43%43%
2019 37%
34%35%
2020 32%
2021
2022
2023
2024
35%
31% 31%
28% 29% 28%
27% 26%
23%
21%19%
18%
15% 16%
11%
8% 9%
6% 7% 5% 6%
0% 0% 0%
Fig. 10: Survey Respondents’ Assessment of the Most Important Market-Driving Actors in the Drone Industry (multiple answers possible; n=845)
1Drone Association was included as an option in industry barometer survey since 2022.
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PARTNER DRONE EVENTS AND DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS
Finally, the team at Drone Industry Insights would like to a yearly opportunity to bring global drone companies together to
sincerely thank all of our partner drone events and distribution measure a state of the industry, and we are proud to collaborate
partners. The steady supports from these leading drone on this with these renowned organizations. If you are a drone
organizations has allowed the survey to reach more than 1,000 event or drone media interested in establishing a partnership for
drone companies from over 90 countries. This survey provides 2025, please reach out to us at [email protected].
Drone Industry Insights, Astra Tower, 6th floor, Zirkusweg 2, 20359 Hamburg, Germany
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ABOUT DRONE INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Drone Industry Insights is the leading market research and consulting company for commercial drones, advanced air mobility, and
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create a wide range of industry reports and bespoke market studies.
The DII team combines over 40 years of experience in manned and unmanned aviation and other relevant industries.
This report is based on a survey conducted from the beginning of May 2024 until mid-July 2024 and distributed by industry partners,
drone coalitions, alliances, conferences/events, and initiatives around the world. We are deeply grateful for the support from all of our
partners for this year’s survey, who help ensure that this unique report reaches all corners of the globe.
All images used in this report are created by Drone Industry Insights on Midjourney and used for illustration purposes only.
This document is intended for general informational purposes only, does not consider the reader’s specific circumstances, and may not
reflect the most current developments. Drone Industry Insights disclaims, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any liability
for the accuracy and completeness of the information in this document and any acts or omissions made based on such information.
Drone Industry Insights does not provide legal, regulatory, audit, or tax advice. Readers can obtain such advice from their legal counsel
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