3-D printer demand to grow 24 percent annually through 2021

Worldwide demand for 3-D printers is projected to expand at a 24 percent annual pace to $5.4 billion in 2021. Demand for printers on a region-by-region basis largely follows the overall 3-D printing market. All global regions are expected to record growth of more than 20 percent per year through 2021. These and other trends are presented in “Global 3D Printing Markets, 2nd Edition,” a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry research firm.

The printer types driving growth in the developed markets of North America and Western Europe will be different than those in the emerging Asia-Pacific market. Developed-region end users will increasingly shift to 3-D printing for small-scale production applications, attracted by labor and material savings. In the Asia-Pacific region, particularly China, sales of inexpensive desktop printers will grow most rapidly, spurred by their low purchase price and extensive use in educational settings.

In 2016, 3-D printer demand was $1.8 billion. Prototyping printers accounted for 70 percent of all 3-D printer demand in value terms, followed by production printers with 24 percent and desktop printers with 6 percent.

Through 2021, overall printer demand will be driven by wider adoption of production and desktop printers. 3-D printing for prototyping applications is relatively mature in the industries where it is already most widespread—automotive, aerospace, consumer product design, and health care.