Global State of Drones 2025 - Industry whitepaper

Saving time and improving quality are now the main reasons for drone use, while regulatory obstacles remain the top challenge for the UAS industry - a new whitepaper shows.

Drone Industry Insights - the leading market research and consulting company for commercial drones, advanced air mobility, and electric aviation - has published its Global State of Drones 2025 report.

Key takeaways from the annual survey - the 8th of its kind - include:

• The service sector remains the largest.

• Mapping and surveying continue to be the primary methods for drone applications.

• Improving work safety has fallen to the third most important reason for using drones, with time-savings and better data jumping ahead.

• The regulatory landscape is a key concern.

• Market expectations indicate a generally positive outlook.

The results are based on 768 completed responses from 87 countries - with most survey participants coming from Europe (46%), followed by North America (19%) and Asia (18%).

Global State of Drones 2025 report: Key takeaways

So, let's examine the report's findings.

Industry profile

Just like last year, the service sector remains the largest, accounting for a 68% share (-6% from 2024).

Businesses like drone operation, consulting, training, engineering, public media (etc) are part of this segment.

This is followed by hardware companies at 24% (+6%), and software companies at 8% (+/-0%).

The size of companies has increased slightly compared to recent years.

While 55% of companies had fewer than 10 employees in 2024, the figure has dropped this year to 48.2%.

On the other hand, the share of companies with between 50 and 200 employees has grown the most, to 37% (2024: 32%). This signals greater stability and scalability.

The proportion of companies with more than 200 employees remains largely unchanged.

Drone operation - key sectors

Mapping and surveying remain the primary methods for drone applications, used by 35% of all drone operators. This share is constant over the years (2023 and 2022: 34%).

This is followed by inspection at 26% (a slight decrease compared to last year).

Photography and filming declined - falling from 28% in 2023 to 18% in 2025. The report states that 'it is in line with the observation that the creation of the commercial imagery advances (geo-information, live footage) and is usually part of a larger mapping or inspection job'.

It adds that its share is lower as other methods rise.

For instance, spraying and dispensing, delivery, and localisation and tracking have all increased.

Delivery, for example, has climbed to 7%, from the 4% of previous years - boding well for solutions such as the DJI FlyCart 30, for instance.

Why are drones being used?

In 2025, the top reason for using drones is 'saving time', followed by 'improving quality'.

This marks a major shift from previous years, when 'improving work safety' was almost always the top reason. This has slipped to third place.

The report says that the majority of surveyed operators are active in agriculture, construction, and energy industries - so the ability to collect large amounts of data in a very short time is a big driver, especially when the alternative is manual labour.

It is also a sign that the industry is maturing and delivering on its ROI promises.

Just like the year before, saving costs is the least important reason for using drones.

Drone industry priorities and concerns

Regulatory obstacles (ie certification processes and BVLOS limitations) remain the top challenge for the drone industry in 2025, marking the third consecutive year.

Client acquisition stays in second place, while acquiring additional funding has climbed to third - up from 8th last year.

Some challenges have decreased over the years, like public awareness and inflation, which is somewhat reassuring.

Driving actors in a dynamic market

The report says that expectations and perceived reality have steadily improved despite the challenges mentioned, and adds that there is a generally positive outlook for the industry.

According to the survey, the top market-driving actor is once again the rule-making authorities - climbing from 57% last year to 61% for 2025.

Hardware manufacturers received slightly less attention (-4%) compared to 2024, but it is still seen as the second most important market-driving actor.

Drone operators/Drone service providers (DSPs) remain in third place this year, while software manufacturers remian fourth, followed by organistions that focus on safety concepts (providing advice or non-binding safety standards, such as JARUS and ASTM).

Summary

Summarising the report, DII states: 'As the drone market continues to grow and expand worldwide, drone companies are shifting their focus from gaining public acceptance to acquiring clients and securing additional funding.

'Saving time has become a top priority, encouraging adoption across various industries. Despite ongoing challenges, especially with regulation and funding, the overall outlook remains optimistic, with steady growth expected in the coming years.'

It describes the industry as one in transition, and the ability for companies to navigate local regulations is important.

heliguy™ can help companies start and scale their drone operations, through consultancy, supply, on-going support, pilot training and regulatory services, dedicated surveying division, and global logistics. Contact our enterprise team to grow your drone programme today.