A new report estimates that the global commercial drone market will more than triple by 2024. The report, which examines the commercial drone market by product type and by application, estimates the market was worth $1.0 billion in 2016, and is projected to reach $3.6 billion by 2024, for an annual growth rate of 17.5 percent.

In 2016, the government segment generated the highest revenue in the global commercial drone market. Among major regions, North America was the highest revenue generating market valued at $472 million in 2016.

Unmanned aerial vehicles, a.k.a. drones, are now revolutionizing industry sectors such as media and entertainment, energy, oil and gas, pipelines, mining, agriculture, architecture, and construction. It has also helped the government sector in security and surveillance, police investigation, and traffic management.

Drone technology is being used for fighting wildfires by NASA and the Forest Service in the United States. Some police departments are also testing UAVs for uses such as photographing accident sites and tracking criminals. Indian PSUs such as GAIL is now using UAVs to monitor its pipelines which are quite intricate to be inspected manually.

The global commercial drone market is driven by demand for enhanced aerial photography, agriculture, and precision farming and demand for inspection without human intervention. However, strict rules and regulations, public acceptance and privacy issues and misuse of drone technology may resist the market growth. For instance, Sweden banned the use of camera drones in public places in October 2016.

The market was led by the rotary blade drone segment in 2016 and is expected to continue this trend during the forecast period with the highest growth rate of 18.7 percent. This is followed by the fixed wing drones as they have their specific applications for surveying and monitoring large areas.

The European market is expected to have the fastest growth with a rate of 18.7 percent over the forecast period. Europe generated revenue of $285 million in 2016 and is expected to capture nearly 30 percent of the market in 2024. In Europe, U.K. holds the highest share of drone market. But the highest growth is expected to be witnessed by France, with a rate of 19.0 percent over the forecast period.

The government sector holds almost half of the commercial drone market in currently. Agriculture is expected to witness the highest growth at 19.6 percent between 2017 and 2024.

The rotary blade drone segment is expected to witness the highest growth with a rate of 18.7 percent over the forecast period.