VUL market study 2023
The Association for Unmanned Aviation (VUL) recently completed its Market Study 2023. This study takes place every two years and presents the current trends and developments in the international and national drone, air cab and drone detection and defense market.
Result of the 2023 market study
This year's 2023 market study found outstanding development in the German drone market. Of the more than 400,000 drones that were active in Germany in 2023, around 359,000 drones could be attributed to private use. Although the commercial share was only 15 percent, this should not be underestimated, as the forecasts up to 2030 are promising. The proportion of drones used commercially has risen by 197% to over 56,000 over the past three years.
In addition, investments in drone companies have risen sharply in recent years. In the past 10 years, around 124 million euros have been spent on drone companies. However, the 2023 market study clearly shows that around 93 percent of this sum was invested in 2021 and 2022. However, these companies include not only large companies, but also SMEs with an average of 20 employees and a company age of 8 years. This puts Germany in 4th place in the commercial drone market behind China, the USA and Japan.
Although the German commercial drone market is valued at 893 million euros and the private market at 62 million euros, this puts Germany in the upper midfield in a global comparison. In addition, according to the 2023 market study, Germany only ranks 18th in the global comparison in the market size per employee category. This is slightly behind the leaders Norway and Switzerland, but the forecast for the German drone market is extremely promising. In the drone detection and defense market, which acts as a protective measure against potentially dangerous aircraft, German companies received 13% of the 215 million euros invested worldwide in 2022.
Forecast 2030
The VUL expects demand for drones for commercial use to increase in 2030. In addition, the German drone market is expected to almost double to 1.7 billion euros. The earliest increase is expected to occur in the German air taxi market. The value is expected to increase from 16.6 million euros to over 167 million euros within the next 7 years. Furthermore, the first air cabs, i.e. for both passengers and freight, are expected to be available as early as 2024.
