Revenue for the global quantum industry topped $1.45 billion in 2024 as quantum job openings surged and private quantum investments reached a record high. China continued to lead in public investment into the quantum sector and in patents filed. That’s according to the Quantum Economic Development Consortium’s (QED-C) 2025 State of the Global Quantum Industry Report, a newly expanded version of QED-C’s annual quantum market forecast.
The report provides a comprehensive look at key drivers in the global quantum industry including revenue, the number of quantum-engaged organizations, government and private investment, and patents. It also includes information on the quantum workforce and the size of the quantum sensing industry for the first time, providing a global benchmark for monitoring projected growth.
“The State of the Global Quantum Industry report shows us that the industry is healthy and growing, and with the current trajectory, quantum technology is poised to continue improving the lives of citizens around the world,” said QED-C Executive Director Celia Merzbacher. “We are also happy to provide QED-C’s first comprehensive look at the global quantum workforce and quantum sensing revenue, which will provide stakeholders critical data for tracking these key areas of growth.”
Quantum Revenue:
Quantum revenue is estimated to be more than $1.45 billion in 2024. That includes, but is not limited to, $1.07 billion from quantum computing and $375 million from quantum sensing.
The report notes that quantum computing revenue is growing at an average of 27% per year and is on track to hit $2.2 billion in 2027, while quantum sensing revenue is growing at an average of 25% per year and is on track to hit $732 million in 2027.
Quantum Companies:
As of 2024, there were 513 pure-play quantum companies (companies that focus solely on quantum technology) and nearly 6,000 partial-play organizations (organizations in industry, academia, etc. that only dedicate a portion of their resources to quantum).
Europe & Central Asia and North America accounted for nearly 87% of all pure-play quantum companies. On a country level, the U.S. leads, followed by the U.K., Germany, Canada, and France.
Among all quantum-engaged companies, 37% focus on quantum hardware components, with 15% in software, and 15% in quantum communications and security.
Quantum Workforce:
This report, for the first time, provides a snapshot of the quantum workforce. Among the findings:
- The global quantum workforce among pure-play quantum companies is estimated at 14,517 professionals as of 2024.
- The number of quantum-related job and internship openings hit 7,400 in 2024, up 55% from 2021.
- Most openings were in Europe & Central Asia followed by North America.
- About 25% of the quantum workforce works in engineering, 12% in information technology, 12% in research, and 12% in business development.
Quantum Investment:
Governments committed an additional $3.1 billion to quantum technology over the past year, bringing total public funding to an estimated $44.5 billion. China accounts for 34% of overall global public investment with $15B, followed by the U.S. ($7.7B), and U.K. ($4.3B).
Private venture capital investment into quantum technology hit a record high of $2.6 billion in 2024, as quantum VC rebounded from a dip in 2023. The U.S. led on quantum VC investments, followed by the U.K., and Australia.
Quantum Patents:
China continued to lead in the filing of quantum patents. More than 50% of all quantum-related patent filings between the years 2020-2024 are attributed to China, approximately four times as many as the U.S.
