New data from IDC (www.idc.com) says global spending on 3D printing (including hardware, materials, software, and services) will be nearly $12 billion in 2018, an increase of 19.9% over 2017. By 2021, the research group expects worldwide spending to be nearly $20.0 billion with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.5%.

Together, 3D printers and materials will account for roughly two thirds of the worldwide spending total throughout the forecast, reaching $6.9 billion and $6.7 billion respectively in 2021. Services spending will trail slightly behind, reaching $5.5 billion in 2021 and led by on-demand parts services and systems integration services. Purchases of 3DP software will grow more slowly than the overall market with a five-year CAGR of 18.6%.

Discrete manufacturing will be the dominant industry for 3D printing, delivering more than half of all worldwide spending throughout the 2017-2021 forecast. Healthcare providers will be the second largest industry with a spending total of nearly $1.3 billion in 2018, followed by education ($974 million) and consumer ($831 million). By 2021, IDC expects professional services and retail to move ahead of the consumer segment. The industries that will see the fastest growth in 3D printing spending over the five-year forecast are the resource industries (38.4% CAGR) and healthcare (35.4% CAGR).

"3D printing solutions have moved well beyond prototyping, to become prevalent within and across multiple industries," said Marianne D'Aquila, research manager, Customer Insights and Analysis at IDC. "Parts for new products, aftermarket parts, dental objects, and medical support objects will continue to see significant growth opportunities over the next five years as 3D printing goes more mainstream. The healthcare industry is also poised to double its share of spend through 2021 as the benefits of cost-effective customized printing continue to be realized.”

The leading use cases for 3D printing are prototypes, aftermarket parts, and parts for new products. As the primary use cases for the discrete manufacturing industry, these three use cases will account for 44% of worldwide spending in 2018. By 2021, dental objects and medical support objects will be the fourth and fifth largest use cases, largely driven by the healthcare provider industry. The two use cases that will see the fastest spending growth – tissue/organ/bone (56.6% CAGR) and dental objects (36.9% CAGR) – will also be driven by healthcare provider spending.