The security industry has tremendous investment opportunities despite the economic slowdown due to COVID-19, according to analysts at Frost & Sullivan. Under an aspirational recovery scenario, the global security industry is likely to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3 per cent, and meaning revenue of $140.60 billion by 2025 from $109.30 billion in 2019. The conservative forecast scenario predicts that the industry will generate $131.01 billion between 2019 and 2025, at a CAGR of 3.1pc. In the pre-COVID-19 forecast, the industry was estimated to increase at a CAGR of 7.1pc, generating revenue of $164.97 billion over the forecast period.
Danielle VanZandt, Aerospace, Defense and Security Industry Analyst at Frost & Sullivan said: “COVID-19 will cause a brief slowdown in the security market after almost a decade of uninhibited progress. Additionally, while some security sectors may find themselves experiencing a slower recovery than others, much of the industry will witness a shift to more service-based solution offerings after years of hesitance by customers to adopt these solutions.
“The key security markets such as disaster management, banking and finance, and airport security will recover at a different pace, and the time taken to return to pre-crisis spending levels will also vary significantly. Markets that will record higher-than-average CAGRs during the recovery period include ports (4.5pc), disaster management (4.0pc), first responders (4.0pc), and mass transit (4.0pc).”
Despite a marginal slowdown expected in 2020 and 2021, strong demand-side trends will present immense development potential for security market participants. The research firm points to trends forecast to generate growth opportunities in this sector:
Digitalisation: Remote/cloud-connected access to security systems and monitoring tools will witness a rise in demand as manned guarding will become extremely limited due to stay-at-home orders issued by governments, and likely not recover once those orders expire.
Emphasis on contactless technologies: In the post-pandemic, contactless technologies such as biometrics, remote access and authentication, and multi-use analytics solutions will attract investments.
Plug-and-play surveillance: Customer willingness to deploy plug-and-play surveillance equipment over permanent system additions due to cost-effectiveness will offer vendors repeat business.
Sensors-to-action: Vendors must prioritise the development of data analytics and sensor networks abilities to add value to customers without having to buy new solutions or equipment.
