AM Market Growth On Pause to Focus on Profitability

The Germany-based strategy consultancy AMPOWER has published its annual market report for industrial metal and polymer additive manufacturing. The report analyzes global industry developments in 2024 and provides an outlook for the next 5 years based on supplier and buyer expectations.

Amid a globally challenging environment, the industrial metal and polymer additive manufacturing market saw only a modest revenue increase of around 2%, signaling a pause in growth, according to AMPOWER. Customers reduced spending as a downturn in production impacted the AM sector. Contributing factors included economic uncertainty, rising global tensions and conflicts, multiple elections leading to changes in administrative policies, and fluctuations in the energy market, AMPOWER reports.

Equipment manufacturers in metal and polymer AM experienced year-over-year revenue declines. The competitive landscape intensified as new market entrants made their debut. This combination of reduced spending and increased competition made 2024 a rough year for suppliers.

Click here for full-size graph of global metal and polymer additive manufacturing market.

Despite these challenges, material consumption continued to rise in the double-digit range, with a highly positive outlook, indicating ongoing demand for AM applications. By the end of 2024 and into early 2025, many suppliers saw a significant uptick in business as previously delayed projects resumed. This suggests that the slowdown was only temporary, and growth in the AM market could soon accelerate. The outlook for 2025 points to a recovery driven by renewed demand and ongoing innovation.

Looking forward, both buyers and suppliers of additive manufacturing maintain an optimistic outlook, projecting substantial yet slightly reduced growth for the industry in the coming years and a continuous adoption in an increasing number of industrially important applications.

“The Defense sector in the U.S. and China have driven AM advancements in recent years," says Dr. Maximilian Munsch, co-author and partner at AMPOWER. "As the European defense market awakens in the light of recent political shifts, new opportunities will arise for the European AM market.”

Additionally, the medical and dental sectors together account for approximately 20% of total revenue. With the global population gaining access to medical care such as dental services, manufacturing capacity will need to expand to meet demand.

The AMPOWER Report 2025 is available online and as a PDF at www.additive-manufacturing-report.com.

About the AMPOWER Report

The AMPOWER Report 2025 is based on over 300 personal interviews conducted by the Hamburg-based consultancy. The respondents are often respective additive manufacturing managers or directors with insight into the technological as well as commercial activities. The total number of data points of the AMPOWER Report 2025 data acquisition exceeds 44,400. The equipment OEM responding to the AMPOWER Report questionnaire represent about 90% of the globally installed base. In addition to suppliers, particular emphasis is placed on interviewing users to enable a demand-oriented evaluation of future market developments.

About AMPOWER

AMPOWER is a strategy consultancy and thought leader in industrial additive manufacturing. The company advises investors, startups and suppliers and users of 3D printing technology in strategic decisions, due diligence investigations and provides access to market intelligence. On an operational level, AMPOWER supports the introduction of additive manufacturing through targeted training programs as well as identification and development of components suitable for production.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.