Unmanned Vehicle Industry Sees 40% Annual Revenue Growth Over the Past 3 Years

Ministry of Science and ICT-KARI Announce Results of '2020 Unmanned Mobility Industry Survey'

Drone. Stock photo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] As the development of unmanned mobility technologies for the 4th Industrial Revolution, such as autonomous vehicles and unmanned drones, continues, the related sales of private companies have increased by an average of 40% annually over the past three years compared to the previous year, indicating rapid market growth.

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute announced the results of the "2020 Unmanned Mobility Industry Survey" on the 14th. Unmanned mobility refers to drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (air), unmanned ground vehicles (land), and unmanned ships and submarines (marine) that can recognize external environments, assess situations, and perform tasks.

According to the survey conducted on 308 domestic companies engaged in unmanned mobility businesses in the land, marine, and air sectors from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, total unmanned mobility sales grew at an average annual rate of 39.2% over the past three years. By sector, the air sector accounted for 81% of total sales and showed a high dependence on public sector sales.

Specifically, the total sales of 308 domestic unmanned mobility companies in 2020 amounted to 678.4 billion KRW, showing an average annual increase of 39.2% over the past three years. By sector, the air sector accounted for 548.4 billion KRW, representing 80.8% of the total. Land accounted for 81.1 billion KRW, marine 40.7 billion KRW, and mission equipment (such as cameras) 8.2 billion KRW, in that order.

Among the total sales, 66.5% were generated from government and public institutions, indicating a high dependence on the public sector, followed by 20% from private companies and 13.4% from others.

The workforce numbered 3,131 as of 2020 and is expected to increase to 5,630 by 2025. Currently, domestic unmanned mobility personnel mainly work in the air sector (76.0%, 2,384 people) and in R&D roles (68.1%, 2,132 people). By education level, 92.6% (2,901 people) hold a bachelor's degree or higher, with 28.1% (882 people) holding master's or doctoral degrees. The most common majors were electrical/electronic engineering and IT, accounting for 42.4% (1,327 people), followed by aerospace majors.

The most required job competencies for new hires were aircraft design and assembly (66.9%), testing and evaluation (54.5%), and onboard software (50%), based on overlapping responses.

A total investment of 132.8 billion KRW was made in companies related to the unmanned mobility sector in 2020, with an additional 502.1 billion KRW expected to be invested by 2023. Of this, 75.9% (100.8 billion KRW) came from companies themselves, and 24.1% (32.0 billion KRW) from government support. 76.4% (101.5 billion KRW) of total investment was concentrated in R&D.

Furthermore, an investment of 502.1 billion KRW related to unmanned mobility is expected over the next three years. The priority order of investment by sector is projected as R&D 76.1% (381.9 billion KRW), facilities and equipment 20.4% (102.3 billion KRW), and education and training 3.2% (16.0 billion KRW).

Most domestic companies in the unmanned mobility business have been operating for five years or less, possess their own research institutes, and are concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area. Companies with less than five years of business experience accounted for 65.9%, while those with more than ten years accounted for only 9.7%. About 62.3% of companies, or two out of three, had their own research institutes, and more than half (58.8%) of business locations were concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.