5 Things You Need to Know About the US Drone Market

4 min. read · Created: 2019-05-29 · By Lukas Schroth

US Drone Market Size: As one of the most prominent players the US drone market, is also home to some of the most exciting developments in the industry. From world-leading R&D coming out of Sillicon Valley to landmark FAA waivers and exemptions, the US continues to move forward at a swift pace. This is why we decided to release our very first country-specific report on the American market.

This year alone, the US drone delivery company Zipline raised $190 million in Round C funding having firmly entrenched themselves as the global leader of medical drone deliveries. The FAA, in the meantime, released new drone rules for hobbyists and wasn’t short of exemptions.

In light of all these developments and our new report here are the top trends on the US Drone Market Size and more:

Index

1. US Drone Market size is the largest in the World

The US Drone Market size is the biggest in the world and has been for the past few years. The US will remain in the lead in the forthcoming years, but the Chinese market is slowly closing that gap. While in 2024 the US drone market size will remain the largest in the world, the Chinese market will be catching up as it will grow faster.

US Drone Market Report - Title Portrait 3D Shadow

Get the US Drone Market Size Report for more.

Commercial US drone industry market size, share and forecast for 2019-2024.
Broken down by application methods, industries and segments.
Full outline of US drone investments, partnerships, and regulations.

2. US Drone Market Size will Almost Triple by 2024

Even though the US market won’t grow quite as quickly as some others (China, and India), it will still be one of the fastest growing markets in the world. By 2024 the US drone market size is expected to be almost three times the size it was in 2018.

3. US Commercial Drone Unit Sales Will Quadruple Between 2018 and 2024

Not only will the market grow rapidly, but so will commercial drone unit sales. In fact, in 2024 in the US there will be four times as many drones sold as in 2018.

4. The US Drone Market is Home to Over 50% of Global Drone Investments

Year in and year out the US has been home to over half of global drone investments. This decreased slightly in 2018 when out of the total 702 billion USD just less than half went to the US, but there is still no country in the world receiving anywhere near as much of disclosed drone investment as the United States. This also partly explains the level of activity visible on the US market – over half of all strategic drone partnerships involve one or more US companies.

“The US drone market will continue to lead at a global level for the next five years. As it develops at a rapid pace good market data on the largest drone market in the world is key to making good strategic decisions in the drone industry.”

Lukas Schroth, Senior Market Analyst at DRONEII

5. The FAA is Pouring its Resources into Developing a UTM System

Finally, in addition to having the largest drone market in the world, the United States also has a growing administrative infrastructure to support it. The US Aviation Agency, the FAA, is supporting five different initiatives working towards establishing an unmanned traffic management (UTM) system as we speak.

While regulators still have a long way to go until drones are able to fly beyond the line of sight in urban areas, each year brings new waivers and exemptions. The latest milestone is the FAA approval granted to the Alphabet-owned Wing this May. This is the first permission to fly a drone delivery service in the United States ever allowing Wing to begin operating in the state of Virginia later this year.

Lukas Schroth( Senior Market Analyst @ DRONEII )

Lukas holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering as well as a Masters in International Business Administration and Engineering. During his education he was involved several consulting and process optimization projects at MTU Aero Engines AG. At DRONEII he’s the go to voice on drones and AI.