The metaverse could generate $3 trillion for the economy by 2031

Experts at Analysis Group, one of the largest consulting firms globally, have analyzed the potential impact of the metaverse and estimated that it could contribute up to $3 trillion to the global economy within the next decade, a press release revealed. 

The metaverse was a hot topic of discussion last year as Mark Zuckerberg decided to change the focus of his social media company, Facebook. As months have passed, public interest in the space has declined, but businesses continue to invest their time and money into it. The report is likely to be a validation of the latter. 

What does the report reveal?

The 45-page report, authored by two of the Analysis Group's experts in its U.S. offices, looks into how the metaverse is dubbed as the successor to the internet and how immersive extended reality (XR) experiences will connect the digital and physical worlds. 

The authors, however, note that there is "no metaverse" even though the technologies needed to build it are being used around the world. To compare the impact of such novel technology, the authors compared it to mobile technology, which wasn't common a few decades ago. When it burst onto the scene, mobile technology transformed the way we connect and communicate and had far-reaching effects on the economy as well. 

The global economic impact of the metaverse

Putting together the literature on how innovative technologies develop and the data on the impact of mobile technology the group has estimated the monetary impact of the technology in terms of business growth, job creation, and economic development. 

According to the report, if metaverse were to be adopted this very year, its share in the gross-domestic produce (GDP) in its 10th year, i.e. 2031, would be highest in the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific region. Contributing 2.3 percent to the GDPs in these economic zones, metaverse could contribute over $1 trillion to APAC GDP while contributing $560 billion to the U.S. economy in 2031. 

The technology would also impact economic activities in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, India, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Canada, and along with the U.S. and APAC regions combined contribute over $3 trillion to the global GDP.

The authors admit that there is a wide range of technical and policy challenges in the path to this realization. Many pieces need to be brought together to make metaverse a possibility in the near future.