Geographic Information System (GIS) Market Research Report: By Component (Hardware, Software, Service), Function (Mapping, Surveying, Telematics and Navigation, Location-Based Services), Data Type (Cartographic, Photographic, Digital, Tabular), Project Size (Medium, Small, Large), Industry (Government, Construction, Utilities, Telecommunications, Mining, Agriculture, Aerospace & Defense, Oil & Gas) - Global Industry Analysis and Growth Forecast to 2030

Market Overview

The GIS market generated revenue of $8,185.9 million in 2020, and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.6% during the forecast period (2020–2030). The key factors responsible for the growth of the industry include the increasing investments, proliferating availability of spatial data and cloud technology, and surging need for global geographic information system (GIS) solutions in the transportation sector.

In 2020, the technology was widely utilized to effectively map the spread of COVID-19 and reduce its impact. Thus, the demand for solutions of GIS technology is high in this pandemic time. It is essential in detecting and responding to the pandemic across multiple parameters, such as demographics, and environmental and geographic information. Further, various health organizations, government agencies, and other institutions leveraged GIS-enabled mapping solutions, which support in several ways, including tracking the travel history of infected persons and identifying individuals who came in contact with them, using mobile phone signals; and preparing time-enabled maps in order to recognize and understand the spread over time and accordingly making plans of action.

Mapping, Cartographic, Medium-Sized Projects, and Government Sector Dominated the Market

The mapping category registered the largest share in the GIS market in 2020, based on function. The rapid urbanization in developing as well as developed countries augmented the demand for mapping functions in urban planning applications, such as land acquisition, urban growth assessment, water quality management, environmental impact assessment, and land zone classification.

The cartographic category held the largest share in the market in 2020, based on data type. This is mainly due to the surging utilization of geographical maps to better understand and analyze data. In addition, cartographic data aids users in data management in map production, via toolsets such as Branding, Elevation, and Magnetic provided by Esri Inc., and in supply chain optimization, environment management, and fraud detection, including those provided by CartoDB Inc.

The medium-sized projects dominated the global market for GIS during the historical period (2015–2020), on the basis of project size. This is attributed to the increasing expenditure by the defense and healthcare sectors. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the world’s military expenditure reached $2.0 trillion in 2020, increased by 2.9% from 2019. Moreover, the organization stated that the five biggest spenders in 2020, which together accounted for 62% of the global military expenditure, were the U.S., China, India, Russia, and the U.K.

The government sector recorded the largest share in the market in 2020, based on industry. Community planning, urban and rural planning, and information extraction on natural calamities are some of the major applications of this technology in the government sector. Moreover, governments are strongly focusing on investing in digital and data-based solutions. For instance, the Government of India (GoI) is spending heavily on digitizing various processes under the Digital India initiative. This, in turn, is expected to increase the penetration of the technology in the coming years.

Software Category to Witness High Growth Rate

The software category is projected to witness the fastest growth in the market during the forecast period, based on component. This will mainly be due to the surging need for mapping field operations, integrating analytics tools, and managing and displaying geographic information through dashboards and reports.

Asia-Pacific (APAC) Market To Witness Fastest Growth in the Coming Years

Geographically, North America generated the largest revenue in 2020 in the GIS market. The public sector, including homeland security and defense, plays a major role in the growth of the market in the region. The military uses this technology to gather intelligence, manage battlefield operations, analyze terrain, and monitor possible terror activities. Moreover, the presence of major industry players, such as Esri Inc. and Hexagon AB, are also driving the regional market.

Whereas, the APAC market is expected to exhibit the fastest growth during the forecast period. This can be attributed to the increasing urbanization and rising demand for geographic based information system among the governments of China and India. In recent years, the governments have increased the deployment of GIS solutions for military applications to improve infrastructure and homeland security.

Use of GIS in Disaster Management Is a Key Market Trend

Over the past few years, the adoption of geographic based information system has risen in disaster management applications, including flood management, forest fire management, carbon management, and climate change monitoring. Governments of the developed countries of North America and Europe and developing countries, including China, Brazil, and India, are widely using this technology for disaster management.

Geographic based information system facilitates the detection of emergency situations prior to an incident. Disasters, such as tsunamis, wildfires, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, epidemics, and oil spills, can be shown and presented by this technology. Emergency management authorities use the available data to manage the disasters and analyze the consequences of a possible disaster.

Rising Investments and Increasing Demand for GIS Solutions in Transportation Sector Boosting the Market Growth

Governments are increasingly investing in these technologies for applications in homeland security, as well as military and aerospace, which, in turn, strengthen its demand. Over the past few years, several vendors have come up with advanced products to suit the requirements of governments in developing countries. Furthermore, in April 2021, the United Nations (UN) released its geospatial strategy for 2021–2022, which aims to contribute to the data ecosystem by enabling location information for different sectors. The vision is to build synergy in activities and investments in geospatial information management by using geospatial data. Moreover, the GoI started the Digital India initiative, where it, along with private-sector companies, is investing in improving the internet connectivity and location-based service infrastructure.

Further, applications of GIS in the transportation sector include accident analysis, highway maintenance management, traffic modeling, and route planning. It helps in monitoring, planning, and managing the complex systems that are involved in transportation planning and management more effectively. For instance, Ola and Uber have been utilizing this technology in the form of a virtual meter in mobile applications, which help in detecting the nearest available vehicles and automating payments based on the distance traveled. Moreover, GIS helps in planning routes and analyzing essential economic and demographic estimation for planning new routes. It also helps analyze existing routes, collect data, and inform riders about the changes in the routes, which strengthen its demand.

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Market Players Involved in Mergers and Acquisitions and Product Launches to Gain Competitive Edge

The global GIS industry is consolidated, and in recent years, the players have been involved in mergers and acquisitions and product launches in order to attain a significant position. For instance:

• In September 2021, Bentley Systems Incorporated announced that its Seequent business unit has acquired Canadian software company Minalytix Inc., the developer of MX Deposit. The acquisition extends Seequent's cloud capabilities and solutions for mining, including greenfield exploration, resource development, and mining production.
• In October 2021, Esri Inc. released ArcGIS GeoBIM, a product that expands the ability of BIM project teams to benefit from GIS. The company provides an easy-to-use, web-based experience for acoustic echo cancellation teams to explore and collaborate using data from multiple systems, in a geospatial context. The company connects to Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro, a cloud-based design collaboration, coordination, and model co-authoring software built on the Autodesk construction cloud.

Key Players in Global GIS Market Are:

• Esri Inc.
• Hexagon AB
• Autodesk Inc.
• Schneider Electric SE
• General Electric Company
• Precisely Incorporated
• Maxar Technologies Inc.
• Bentley Systems Incorporated
• SuperMap Software Co. Ltd.
• PASCO CORPORATION
• IQGeo Group plc
• Trimble Inc.

Market Size Breakdown by Segments

The global GIS market report offers comprehensive market segmentation analysis along with market estimation for the period 2015-2030.

Based on Component

• Hardware
  • Global navigation satellite system/global positioning system (GNSS/GPS) antennas
  • Imaging sensors
  • Total station
  • Light detection and ranging (LiDAR)
  • GIS collectors
• Software
  • Remote sensing
  • Desktop
  • Server
  • Developer
  • Mobile
• Service
  • Managed
  • Professional
    • Integration and maintenance
    • Training and consulting

Based on Function

• Mapping
• Surveying
• Telematics and Navigation
• Location-Based Services

Based on Data Type

• Cartographic
• Photographic
• Digital
• Tabular

Based on Project Size

• Medium
• Small
• Large

Based on Industry   

• Government
• Construction
• Utilities
• Telecommunications
• Mining
• Agriculture
• Aerospace & Defense
• Oil & Gas

Geographical Analysis

• North America
  • U.S.
  • Canada
• Europe
  • U.K.
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • France
  • Spain
• Asia-Pacific (APAC)
  • China
  • Japan
  • India
  • South Korea
  • Australia
• Latin America (LATAM)
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
• Middle East & Africa (MEA)
  • South Africa
  • Saudi Arabia
  • U.A.E.
  • Turkey