The global drone market: main development trends

Research background: Many countries of the world announced increasing the use of drones for civil and military purposes. An important feature of the drone market is that it is an “ecosystem”“, which includes software developers, integrators, component manufacturers, etc. By 2025, the capacity of the global unmanned aerial vehicle market will grow by 3 times. Purpose of the article: The aim of the study is to identify current trends in the development of the global market of unmanned aerial vehicles for commercial use. Methods: A significant part of the necessary statistical data is closed for public access, due to the fact that most of the UAVs produced are part of the military-industrial complex or “dual-use” goods. Only 23.6% of all UAVs produced can be classified as civilian or commercial products. Market development trends using economic statistic methods were determined based on the data of the reports “The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in International Trade and their Regulation”, Drone Industry Insights, the analytical agency Mordor Intelligence, “Global Drone Regulations Database”. Findings & Value added: The USA, China and France are the leaders in the production of commercial and consumer drones. The rating of drone manufacturers is led by: DJI (China), SenseFly / Parrot SA (France), Yuneec (China), 3D Robotics (USA). The largest purchases are made by the USA, China, Russia, Great Britain, Australia, France, Saudi Arabia, India and South Korea. Significant growth in the use of drones is expected in medicine, logistics and delivery.