While market research might seem like the corporate world's crystal ball, the global insights industry is a dynamic, $84 billion behemoth—fueled by AI, digital analytics, and evolving methodologies—that’s rapidly reshaping how businesses understand everything from consumers and markets to their own future growth.
Key Takeaways
- The global insights and market research industry generated $84 billion in revenue in 2023, up 6.5% from 2022.
- Projections indicate the insights industry will reach $131 billion by 2028, with a CAGR of 7.2% from 2023-2028.
- In 2023, qualitative research accounted for 28% of total insights industry spending worldwide.
- Kantar reported $4.2 billion in 2023 revenue, leading global insights firms.
- Nielsen Holdings generated $3.5 billion from insights services in 2023.
- Ipsos achieved €2.3 billion ($2.5B) revenue in 2023, up 4.2%.
- 62% of insights firms adopted AI tools by end of 2023.
- Generative AI usage in insights reached 35% among top firms in 2023.
- 78% of insights professionals use cloud-based analytics platforms daily.
- Global insights workforce totals 1.2 million professionals in 2023.
- Average salary for insights analysts is $85,000 USD annually worldwide.
- 42% of insights roles require data science skills in 2023 job postings.
- North America holds 38% of global insights industry revenues.
- Asia-Pacific insights market share is 28% worldwide in 2023.
- Europe's insights industry represents 25% of global total.
The global insights industry is growing robustly through digital analytics and AI adoption.
Key Players & Revenues
- Kantar reported $4.2 billion in 2023 revenue, leading global insights firms.
- Nielsen Holdings generated $3.5 billion from insights services in 2023.
- Ipsos achieved €2.3 billion ($2.5B) revenue in 2023, up 4.2%.
- GfK posted €1.8 billion ($1.95B) in insights revenue for 2023.
- Numerator (ex-NielsenIQ) reached $450 million revenue in 2023.
- Dynata reported $420 million in revenue from panels and insights in 2023.
- Qualtrics generated $1.5 billion from experience management insights in 2023.
- SurveyMonkey (Momentive) had $375 million insights revenue in 2023.
- Forsta achieved $250 million in customer insights revenue 2023.
- Confirmit (ASQ) reported $180 million in 2023 insights sales.
- Kantar’s Worldpanel division alone generated $1.1 billion in 2023.
- Nielsen’s media measurement insights brought in $2.1 billion in 2023.
- Ipsos Public Affairs segment revenue was €450 million in 2023.
- GfK Retail & Technology insights hit €900 million in 2023.
- NIQ (NielsenIQ) consumer insights revenue was $2.8 billion in 2023.
- Medallia’s experience insights platform revenue reached $700 million in 2023.
- InMoment generated $220 million from insights in 2023.
- Claritas reported $150 million revenue in audience insights 2023.
- Kantar holds 18% market share in global insights top 50 firms.
- Nielsen commands 12% of worldwide insights market revenues.
- Ipsos has 7% global market share in insights services 2023.
- GfK’s market share in Europe insights is 9.2% in 2023.
- Top 10 insights firms control 45% of global revenues in 2023.
- Oracle CX (ex-Eloqua) insights revenue was $1.2B in FY2023.
- Salesforce Einstein insights contributed $800M to 2023 revenue.
- Adobe Experience Cloud insights generated $4.1B in 2023.
- SAS Institute analytics insights revenue hit $3B in 2023.
Key Players & Revenues Interpretation
While the global insights industry is a multi-billion dollar behemoth where a few giants dominate nearly half the market, it’s clear everyone is still paying a small fortune just to confirm we are all, in fact, confused.
Market Size & Growth
- The global insights and market research industry generated $84 billion in revenue in 2023, up 6.5% from 2022.
- Projections indicate the insights industry will reach $131 billion by 2028, with a CAGR of 7.2% from 2023-2028.
- In 2023, qualitative research accounted for 28% of total insights industry spending worldwide.
- The U.S. insights market grew by 5.8% in 2023 to $28.4 billion.
- Digital analytics tools drove 42% of insights industry growth in 2023 globally.
- Asia-Pacific insights market expanded at 9.1% CAGR from 2018-2023, reaching $22 billion.
- Custom research projects made up 65% of insights industry revenues in Europe in 2023.
- The syndicated research segment declined by 2% to $12.5 billion globally in 2023.
- Inflation-adjusted growth in the insights industry was 3.2% in 2023 worldwide.
- B2B insights research grew 8.4% to $15.7 billion in 2023.
- Consumer goods sector accounted for 31% of global insights spending in 2023.
- Online panels contributed $9.8 billion, or 12% of total insights revenues in 2023.
- The insights industry in Latin America reached $4.2 billion in 2023, up 7.8%.
- AI-driven insights tools boosted market growth by 15% in 2023 pilots.
- Total global insights firms numbered 85,000 in 2023.
- Revenue per insights employee averaged $210,000 globally in 2023.
- FMCG brands spent $26 billion on insights in 2023 worldwide.
- Tech sector insights demand rose 12% to $18.9 billion in 2023.
- Europe’s insights market hit $25.3 billion in 2023, +4.1% YoY.
- Social media analytics segment grew to $6.7 billion in 2023.
- The global insights industry is expected to grow at 6.8% CAGR to 2030.
- Healthcare insights research reached $11.2 billion in 2023 globally.
- Automotive insights spending increased 9.2% to $8.4 billion in 2023.
- Retail insights market valued at $14.5 billion in 2023 worldwide.
- Financial services insights grew to $10.1 billion in 2023.
- Energy sector insights research hit $5.6 billion in 2023.
- Telecom insights spending was $7.3 billion globally in 2023.
- Media & entertainment insights reached $9.8 billion in 2023.
- Travel & hospitality insights grew to $4.9 billion in 2023 post-COVID.
- Public sector insights research was $3.7 billion worldwide in 2023.
Market Size & Growth Interpretation
While the industry is busy measuring everything else, its own vital signs reveal a patient that is not just alive but thriving, flexing a $84 billion muscle that is enthusiastically bulking up on a digital diet and projected to be a $131 billion heavyweight by 2028.
Regional Breakdown
- North America holds 38% of global insights industry revenues.
- Asia-Pacific insights market share is 28% worldwide in 2023.
- Europe's insights industry represents 25% of global total.
- Latin America accounts for 5% of global insights spending.
- Middle East & Africa insights market at 4% global share.
- U.S. dominates with 34% of world insights revenues in 2023.
- China's insights market grew 12% to $12.5B in 2023.
- UK insights industry valued at £6.5B ($8.2B) in 2023.
- Germany's market research sector hit €4.8B in 2023.
- India's insights market reached $2.1B, +15% YoY.
- Brazil's insights industry grew to $1.8B in 2023.
- Japan's insights spending was $5.4B in 2023.
- Australia's market research market at AUD 1.2B ($800M).
- France insights revenues €2.9B in 2023.
- Canada's insights market $2.3B CAD in 2023.
- South Korea insights industry $1.9B in 2023.
- Mexico's market research grew to $900M in 2023.
- South Africa's insights sector $450M in 2023.
- UAE insights market expanded to $650M in 2023.
- Netherlands insights revenues €1.1B in 2023.
Regional Breakdown Interpretation
The global insights industry reveals a stubbornly familiar economic map, where the old guard—led emphatically by the U.S.—still holds the commanding heights, but the frantic growth and scale in Asia-Pacific, particularly China, suggest the future is being vigorously written in the East, while other regions, for now, remain intriguing footnotes to the main event.
Technology Adoption
- 62% of insights firms adopted AI tools by end of 2023.
- Generative AI usage in insights reached 35% among top firms in 2023.
- 78% of insights professionals use cloud-based analytics platforms daily.
- Big data analytics tools were used by 85% of global insights agencies in 2023.
- Mobile ethnography adoption surged to 52% in qualitative insights 2023.
- VR/AR for insights testing used by 22% of firms, up from 8% in 2022.
- Automated survey platforms handled 68% of quantitative insights projects in 2023.
- NLP (Natural Language Processing) integrated in 47% of text analytics tools.
- Blockchain for panel data security adopted by 15% of insights firms 2023.
- Predictive analytics models deployed in 61% of B2B insights work.
- IoT data integration in insights rose to 29% usage in 2023.
- Computer vision for image-based insights used by 34% of agencies.
- Zero-party data collection tools adopted by 55% of brands via insights.
- Edge computing for real-time insights piloted by 18% of firms.
- Multimodal AI combining text/video/audio in 26% of advanced insights setups.
- Synthetic data generation used in 19% of privacy-compliant insights.
- Federated learning for collaborative insights adopted by 12%.
- Quantum computing pilots in optimization insights at 3% of top firms.
- Low-code/no-code platforms for insights dashboards used by 71%.
- Voice of Customer (VoC) AI bots in 44% of CX insights programs.
Technology Adoption Interpretation
The insights industry has quietly built a formidable tech arsenal, upgrading from clipboards and focus groups to an AI-augmented, cloud-native reality where the only thing more impressive than the tools is the fact that humans are still desperately needed to ask the right questions and make sense of it all.
Workforce Statistics
- Global insights workforce totals 1.2 million professionals in 2023.
- Average salary for insights analysts is $85,000 USD annually worldwide.
- 42% of insights roles require data science skills in 2023 job postings.
- Women comprise 58% of the global insights industry workforce.
- Turnover rate in insights firms averaged 14.2% in 2023.
- 67% of insights pros have bachelor's degrees, 22% master's.
- Remote work adopted by 76% of insights employees full-time in 2023.
- Freelance insights consultants grew 11% to 250,000 globally.
- Senior insights directors earn average $165,000 USD per year.
- 31% of insights workforce is under 30 years old in 2023.
- Upskilling in AI done by 54% of insights professionals in past year.
- Diversity training implemented in 68% of large insights firms.
- Insights researchers work average 47 hours per week.
- 25% of insights jobs unfilled due to talent shortage in 2023.
- Gen Z entry into insights workforce up 18% YoY.
- CX insights specialists average salary $95,000 USD.
- 49% of insights leaders report burnout issues in 2023 surveys.
- Certifications like MRS or Insights Association held by 37%.
- Global VC investment in insights tech startups was $2.8B in 2023.
Workforce Statistics Interpretation
The insights industry is a 1.2-million-person paradox of high demand, good pay, and rampant burnout, where a majority-female, increasingly remote workforce is racing to upskill in data science while nearly half of its leaders are running on fumes and a quarter of its jobs remain stubbornly unfilled.
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