According to a new market research report titled “Delivery Drones Market by Type (Multi-rotor, Fixed-wing, Hybrid VTOL), Payload (Less than 2 KG, 2-5 KG), Range (Less than 25 km, More than 25 km), End User (Healthcare, Retailers and E- commerce, Logistics), and Geography — Global Forecasts to 2028”, the delivery drones market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 40.0% from 2021–2028 to reach $1.29 billion by 2028.
A delivery drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle mainly used to deliver packages, medical supplies, food, or other goods. These drones provide contactless and same-day delivery of parcel packages. The use of delivery drones to deliver packages has resulted in lower energy consumption per kilometer compared to traditional modes of delivery, such as delivery trucks.
The growing need to reduce carbon emissions has rapidly increased the adoption of delivery drones. Drones can deliver blood, vaccines, birth control, snakebite serum, and other medical supplies to rural areas and reach patients who require immediate medical attention within minutes. Also, the increasing demand for on-time delivery of products, such as groceries, medicines, postal deliveries, and retail goods, is expected to increase the demand for delivery drones in the future.
The increasing demand for faster delivery, technological advancements in drones, and the growing need to reduce carbon emissions are the factors driving the growth of the delivery drones market. In addition, increasing private investments in the drone industry, rise in e-commerce, and rising demand for contactless delivery amidst the COVID-19 pandemic are projected to provide significant growth opportunities for the vendors operating in this market.
However, the high cost of infrastructure and limited battery life of aerial delivery drones are expected to restrain the growth of this market to a certain extent. In addition, stringent government regulations for UAVs and security breaches using aerial delivery drones pose a major challenge for the growth of the delivery drones market.
Impact of COVID-19 on the Delivery Drones Market
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic emerged towards the end of December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The pandemic had a major impact on all industries globally, with numerous industries completely shutting down manufacturing operations following the directives issued by local governments or operating at minimal capacities to keep personnel safe. The revenues of major companies decreased significantly due to halted operations. The reduced economic activity and operations severely impacted e-commerce, logistics, and healthcare supply chain deliveries globally.
To avoid overcrowding at supermarkets and medical stores, governments across various countries imposed nationwide lockdowns and social distancing norms. These regulations created a wide range of opportunities for drone delivery services in the medical sector. In order to promote drone delivery services, the Federal Aviation Administration (US) is speeding up the approvals for these services to help during the COVID-19 pandemic in the US The main purpose of these approvals is to offer drone delivery services for food and medical items.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the need to use delivery drones for automatic, contactless delivery services in remote islands, mountainous areas, and within some parts of cities. These factors are expected to increase the demand for delivery drones during the forecast period.
The rising demand for non-contact services during the COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged the Government of South Korea to speed up the testing trials of delivery drones for food deliveries across the country. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, a test was held in the administrative city of Sejong, demonstrating the five drones delivered meals and other products to people at homes two to three kilometers away across a lake and high-rise buildings within 10 minutes.
Similarly, the southern state of Telangana, part of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Medicine from the Sky project, NITI Aayog, and Apollo Hospitals plans to run a trial for delivering medicines using drones.
The delivery drones market is segmented based on type, payload, range, end user, and geography. The study also evaluates industry competitors and analyzes the market at the country level.
Based on type, the delivery drones market is segmented into multi-rotor, fixed-wing, single-rotor, and hybrid VTOL. The multi-rotor segment dominated the delivery drones market in 2021. The large market share of this segment is attributed to its ability to operate in a wider variety of environments. These drones can hover in a fixed position and fly in any direction and are used to deliver services in the healthcare, logistics, and retail sectors.
Based on payloadthe delivery drones market is segmented into less than 2 Kg, 2–5 Kg, and more than 5 Kg. The less than 2 Kg segment dominated the delivery drones market in 2021. The large market share of this segment is attributed to its capability to expeditiously deliver small packages of up to 2 kg. This category denotes the provision of small grocery, coffee, postal delivery, gifts, healthcare & wellness products, and commercial goods under a specific weight limit.
Based on range, the delivery drones market is segmented into less than 25 Km, and more than 25 Km. The less than 25 Km segment dominated the delivery drones market in 2021. Drone delivery caters to rural and dense urban areas, reduces manual involvement and shipping expenses, and enables door-step delivery and service expansion in areas lacking infrastructure. Thus, these factors contribute to the large market share of this segment.
Based on end user, the delivery drones market is segmented into healthcare, retailers & e-commerce, food & beverage, logistics, and other end users. The retailers & e-commerce segment dominated the delivery drones market 2021. The dominant position of this segment is attributed to the capability of delivery drones to deliver small packages of commercial goods faster than traditional means of delivery. High delivery speed, door-step shipping, and the potential to serve rural and semi-rural areas are the factors increasing the adoption of delivery drones.
Based on geography, this market is segmented into five major regions: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Asia-Pacific dominated the delivery drones market in 2021. The rising number of customers switching from offline shopping to online shopping platforms and increasing partnerships between various local traders and leading e-commerce companies are the factors that contribute to the large market share of this region .
The growing adoption of delivery drones in countries such as China, South Korea, and Japan has increased the demand for delivery drones in the APAC region. The demand for delivery drones is expected to increase in Asia-Pacific due to the rapid growth of online shopping platforms, which increases the demand for instant parcel delivery.
Key Players
The key players operating in the delivery drones market are Amazon.com Inc (US), Boeing Co (US), Airbus SE (Netherlands), Drone Delivery Canada Corp (Canada), Wing Aviation LLC (US), Flirtey (US), Zipline (US), Wingcopter GmbH (Germany), FLI Drone (US), Flytrex Inc (US), Matternet Inc (US), Deutsche Post DHL Group (Germany), United Parcel Services (US), SF Express Co. Ltd. (China), and Rakuten Group Inc (Japan).
Scope of the Report
Delivery Drones Market, by Type
- multi-rotor
- fixed-wing
- single-rotor
- Hybrid VTOL
Delivery Drones Market, By Payload
- Less than 2kg
- 2-5kg
- More than 5kg
Delivery Drones Market, by Range
- Less than 25km
- More than 25km
Delivery Drones Market, by End User
- Healthcare
- Retailers and E-commerce
- Food & Beverages
- Logistics
- Other End Users
Delivery Drones Market, by Geography
North America
Asia-Pacific
- China
- Japanese
- South Korea
- India
- Australia
- Rest of Asia-Pacific
Europe
- Germany
- UK
- France
- Italy
- Spain
- Rest of Europe
Latin America
Middle East & Africa
