Industry Analysis

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Market size forecast is likely to hit USD 67.66 billion by 2023. PPE market analysis pegs revenue growth at 7.3% CAGR from 2016 to 2023.

Strong awareness level regarding employee safety & health coupled with high industrial fatality rate, particularly across unregulated markets by unavailability of protective gear will drive Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) market growth over the forecast period.
 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety guidelines, mainly across Europe and the U.S. will act as a growth catalyst for the industry. These initiatives, aimed at standardizing work environment across regional boundaries, with NFPA as well as NIOSH being involved with traditional agencies, should spur personal protective equipment market size, which was pegged at USD 38.6 billion in 2015.
 

Technology innovation, focused on sustainable and low-cost materials, will be critical to ensure a stable PPE market price trend and maintain industry penetration.
 

Strong economic and infrastructure indictors in China, India and other emerging countries are likely to be growth triggers for personal protective equipment market size over the next seven years. Government funding for infrastructure projects in India stood at over USD 10 billion and total infrastructure investments at USD 155 billion in 2014, which gives a broad idea on the kind of opportunity that exists across these regions for PPE distributors & suppliers.
 

Chinese industrial production grew by 7.6% in 2014, with growth exceeding 10.0% being registered in mining, chemical fibers, automotive, electrical equipment, metal fabrication, gas distribution and industrial machinery, with all of these industries being key supply avenues for the market.

Product Analysis

Hand protection market size was evaluated to be USD 8.7 billion in 2015, with over USD 14.9 billion revenue expectation by 2023. Pharmaceutical, food, chemicals, manufacturing and construction industries serve as key demand avenues for this segment, with workplace hand cuts, arm injuries and abrasions being major concern areas.
 

Fall protection is a relatively unexplored segment in this industry, with growth expectations of 7.9% CAGR through 2023. Power, construction, oil and gas, rescue & defense are major applications for this equipment, which generally includes chest harness, suspension belts, body belts, full body harness, and safety nets.
 

Industrial protective clothing market size should exceed USD 15 billion by 2023, making it a very attractive segment for industry participants. Strong regulatory initiatives towards minimizing injury and fatality from fire, chemical or nuclear hazard will play an important role in protective clothing industry evolution.
 

Protective footwear market size is likely to gain PPE industry product matrix share, and could account for over 18% revenue by the end of the forecast period.
 

Other predominant personal protective equipment market product segments include head, face, hearing and respiratory protection.
 

Application Analysis

With extensive and almost obligatory usage, manufacturing applications are set to account for a significant part of personal protective equipment market size. Manufacturing accounted for over 20% industry revenue in 2015, with growth target of over 7%.
 

Transportation applications could present significant growth opportunities, with PPE market revenue estimated at just under USD 5 billion in 2015. Construction is another high-growth application segment, with expectations of 7.5% CAGR by 2023. Overhead costs associated with workplace fatalities should increase product penetration in this segment in the foreseeable future.
 

Oil & gas personal protective equipment (PPE) market size was over USD 6 billion in 2015, and could see revenue in excess of USD 11 billion by the end of the forecast period.
 

Food technology, pharmaceutical and chemical processing are other major application areas.
 

Regional Analysis

U.S. personal protective equipment market size was estimated to be in excess of USD 12 billion in 2015, with strong growth indicators for the forecast timeframe. Rising occupational fatality rate, along with a pressing need for highly durable mechanical wear resistant and utility protective gears across core industries should drive growth.
 

Europe, strongly influenced by Germany protective equipment market share, is likely to see moderate growth over the next seven years, primarily due to weak economic indicators and sluggish manufacturing index across the European Union.
 

Asia Pacific, particularly via strong India and China PPE market growth, should continue being the most attractive regional industry in the near future, with revenue estimates of over USD 13 billion by 2023.
 

Latin America and Middle East & Africa personal protective equipment market size should grow in excess of 7% over the analytical timeframe.
 

Competitive Market Share

With significant regulatory deviation across regions, personal protective equipment market share is moderately consolidated, with high price sensitivity being key purchase criteria.  However, some global participants have managed to overcome regional barriers, with Honeywell leading the industry interns of market share, estimated at over 27% in 2015.
 

3M, Dupont, Ansell, MSA, Uvex are some notable companies, with significant presence across various applications.