Advanced Protective Gear and Armor Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by End-use Industry, User and Type : Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030

Advanced Protective Gear and Armor Market Statistics 2021-2030:

The global advanced protective gear and armor market was valued at $12,136.54 million in 2020 and is projected to reach $26,548.16 million in 2030, registering a CAGR of 7.4%.

Advanced protective gear and armor include all the protective gears, such as eye-gears, head-gears, and armors, used in different industries and defense applications to enhance an individual's safety. The requirement for superior gears and armors is growing, owing to the technological progress in a variety of industrial areas, internal and external security risks, territorial conflicts, modernization of law enforcement and defense staff, and lack of availability of smart protective gears and armors. The emergence of innovative materials & products and growing demand for higher comfort & safety are the key factors that are propelling the market growth.

The integration of wearables technology in protective gears and armors is anticipated to support the rise in demand for cutting-edge protective equipment that is combined with sensors and other supporting technologies that can help detect any critical stress indications and other useful data to diagnose the safety condition of workers. Products manufactured by the key players operating in the market have penetrated the developing nations to take benefit of the most untapped potential and grab the prospects to improve their competitiveness in the global advanced protective gear and armor market.

The market segmentation is based on end-use industry, user, type, and region. The end-use industry segment is further divided into industrial, oil & gas, law enforcement, healthcare, construction, and other. Based on user, the market is bifurcated into industrial and personal. Based on type, it is classified into thermal, chemical or biological, ballistic, and other. Region-wise, the market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.

Key players operating in the global advanced protective gear and armor market include ArmorSource LLC, Avon Rubber P.L.C., BAE Systems plc, Bolle Safety Standard Issue, DuPont De Nemours, Inc., Galls, LLC, Honeywell International Inc., MSA Safety Incorporated, Northrop Grumman Corporation, and Point Black Enterprises Inc. 

Increasing terrorist activities and warfare situations around the globe 

'Terrorism incorporates a wide array of complex threats, for instance, overseas extremist fighters, planned terrorism in conflict regions, attacks using biological, radiological, nuclear, chemical, and explosive materials, and radicalized lone wolves. According to the Institute for Economics & Peace, terrorism activities have witnessed an upward trend, especially in sub-Saharan nations. Moreover, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa have the maximum regional economic impact, accounting for $5.6 and $12.5 billion, respectively. In spite of the overall decline in the impact of terrorism across the globe, it still remains a substantial and critical problem in many nations. There were 63 countries in 2019 that logged at least one death due to terrorist attacks and 17 countries that logged about 100 deaths from terrorism. The global economic impact of terrorism in 2019 amounted to S$26.4 billion, a fall of 25% from 2018. Although the economic impact of terrorism is falling throughout the world, it still amounts to significant value.

Advanced Protective Gear and Armor products are immensely helpful in tackling terrorist activities, as they protect and act as a shield against different types of terrorist attacks, for example, chemical weapons, biological weapons, bullets, and others. Thus, the increasing threats of terrorism and warfare situations in conflicted regions of the world are anticipated to propel the growth of the global advanced protective gear and armor market during the forecast timeframe.  

Stringent laws & regulations regarding work environment safety

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is crucial for every work that involves employees working in hazardous surroundings or alongside risks. Personal protective equipment, also known as protective gear or safety gear, is any kind of wearable or equipment worn by an individual to keep themselves safe from workroom-specific dangers. Usually, protective gear provides safety against any physical, chemical, radiological, biological, mechanical, electrical, or any other threat in the workshop. 

Section 1910.132(h)(1) in Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) general requirements about PPE specifically states that protecting equipment, including personal protective equipment (PPE) shall be provided by the company free of cost to its workers. There are various kinds of personal protective equipment available today that are used to enhance workplace safety for workers. Some of those types comprise skin and body protection, respiratory protection, hearing protection, and eye protection. Similarly, OSHA has set guidelines regarding the usage of body armors for workers that work on the job that may lead to gunshot wounds and knife stab wounds. Such regulations have resulted in a significant rise in demand for modern protective gear and armor across different operations, such as personal protection equipment for bomb disposal, firefighters, military operations (body and vehicular armor, as well as bullet-resistant suits) and others, across the world. The implementation of strict safety rules across different sectors is expected to fuel the growth of the global advanced protective gear and armor market during the forecast timeframe.

Availability of poor quality, low-cost products

The prevailing Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) personal protective equipment (PPE) standards are available in 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 1926 Subpart E for Construction, Part 1918 Subpart J for Longshoring, Part 1917 Subpart E for Marine Terminals, Part 1915 Subpart I for Maritime, and Part 1910 Subpart I for General Industry. Similarly, VPAM armor standard (Europe), HOSDB armor standard (United Kingdom), GOST armor standard (Russia), TR armor standard (Germany), and other standards exist for body armors globally. Protective gears and armors are manufactured and tested to comply with these standards. However, various inferior quality protective gears are available in the market that poses a risk to the lives of workers. They are not designed as per any recognized standard and are available at a much cheaper price than the standard ones. According to BMJ Publishing Group’s report published in February 2021, Ltd., The UK government wasted hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on inferior-quality and ineffectual personal protective equipment (PPE) while leaving healthcare staff inadequately protected from coronavirus. The supply of cheap protective gear and armor is expected to hamper the growth of the global advanced protective gear and armor market during the forecast period.

Rise in military expenditure to acquire body armors

Body armor is one of the most common safety equipment worn by police officers and soldiers. The advanced lightweight body armor is in high demand globally, which is made using lighter and sturdier materials so that the performance of armors could be achieved at a much-reduced weight. Several countries in recent years have placed bulk orders to obtain advanced body armors for military forces. For instance, in 2019, the U.S. Army spent $245.4 million on body armor. The expenditure was expected to change considerably in 2020 to $176.8 million for body armor. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense demanded a raise to $234.6 million for body armor. Moreover, in June 2020, due to the efforts made by a few female experts in Congress, a provision for superior-fitting female body armor was included in the council's draft version of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. In June 2020, the Indian Army announced its plans for inducting Sarvatra Kavach, a full body armor suit, for its defense force that will be devoid of raw materials from Chinese and designed, developed, and manufactured in India. In February 2020, with the objective of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) to enhance its battle readiness and preparing for military fights, the PLA Army publicized its plan to acquire 1.4 million units of superior body armor with plates for a top limit price of about $1.85 billion in the coming 2 years.

Rise in military spending to acquire state-of-the-art body armors for military forces as mentioned above is expected to propel the growth of the global advanced protective gear and armor market during the forecast period

COVID-19 Impact Analysis 

• The COVID-19 impact on the advanced protective gear and armor market is unpredictable and is expected to remain in force till the fourth quarter of 2021. 
• The COVID-19 outbreak forced governments across the globe to implement strict lockdowns and banned/restricted the number of personnel in the factories for most of 2020. This led to sudden fall in demand for protective equipment and hampered the adoption of technologies, such as the use of smart sensors in protective gears, across the globe. 
• Moreover, nationwide lockdowns forced protective equipment manufacturing facilities to partially or completely shut their operations.
• Adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in delays in activities and initiatives regarding development of advanced protective gear solutions globally.

Key Benefits For Stakeholders

• This study presents analytical depiction of the global advanced protective gear and armor market analysis along with current trends and future estimations to depict imminent investment pockets.
• The overall advanced protective gear and armor market opportunity is determined by understanding profitable trends to gain a stronger foothold.
• The report presents information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities of the global advanced protective gear and armor market with a detailed impact analysis.
• The current advanced protective gear and armor market is quantitatively analyzed from 2020 to 2030 to benchmark the financial competency.
• Porter’s five forces analysis illustrates the potency of the buyers and suppliers in the industry.

Key Market Segments

By End-use Industry

• Industrial
• Oil & Gas
• Law Enforcement
• Healthcare
• Construction
• Other

By User

• Industrial
• Personal

By Type

• Thermal
• Chemical or Biological
• Ballistic
• Other    

By Region

• North America
  • U.S.
  • Canada
  • Mexico
• Europe
  • Germany
  • UK
  • France
  • Russia
  • Rest of Europe
• Asia-Pacific
  • China
  • Japan
  • India
  • South Korea
  • Rest of Asia Pacific
• LAMEA
  • Latin America
  • Middle East
  • Africa

Key Players

• ArmorSource LLC 
• Avon Rubber P.L.C. 
• BAE Systems plc 
• Bolle Safety Standard Issue 
• DuPont De Nemours, Inc. 
• Galls, LLC 
• Honeywell International Inc. 
• MSA Safety Incorporated 
• Northrop Grumman Corporation 
• Point Black Enterprises Inc.

  Advanced Protective Gear and Armor Market Report Highlights

Aspects	Details
By End-use Industry	Industrial Oil & Gas Law Enforcement Healthcare Construction Other
By User	Industrial Personal
By Type	Thermal Chemical or Biological Ballistic Other
By Region	North America  (U.S., Canada, Mexico) Europe  (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Russia, Rest of Europe) Asia-Pacific  (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Rest of Asia-Pacific) LAMEA  (Brazil, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Argentina, Rest of LAMEA)
Key Market Players	ARMORSOURCE LLC, .AVON RUBER P.L.C., GALLS, LLC, POINT BLANK ENTERPRISES, INC., BAE SYSTEMS PLC, NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORPORATION, BOLLE SAFETY STANDARD ISSUE, .DUPONT DE NEMOURS, INC., HONEYWELL INTERATIONAL INC., MSA SAFETY INCORPORATED

Analyst Review

The global advanced protective gear and armor market is expected to witness significant growth due to rising demand for industry-specific and defense-specific protective gears and armors.

Increasing terrorist activities and warfare situations around the globe and stringent laws & regulations regarding work environment safety are expected to drive the advanced protective gear and armor market during the forecast period. However, the supply of poor quality, low-cost products and low safety compliance in the construction industry are anticipated to hamper the growth of the market. Moreover, rise in military expenditure to acquire body armor and technological advancements in protective gear and armor products are expected to offer lucrative opportunities in future.

Protective gears and body armors form a crucial part of any defense staffs’ equipment, and safety of soldiers is always the main priority for any armed force across the globe. Body & vehicular armor and gunshot resilient suits are vital in military and law enforcement operations. Both developed and emerging economies across the globe, for instance, the U.S., China, India, and Germany allocate a significant amount of annual budget to modernize and equip the armed forces. In recent years, many nations have placed huge orders to acquire highly reliable protective gears and body armors to boost the performance of defense forces on the battlefield. Advanced protective gears and body armors provide protection against a wide variety of attacks such as chemical, biological, nuclear, and others.

The advanced protective gear and armor market holds promising potential as protective equipment enhances the safety of workers who work in risk prone work environments along with policemen and soldiers who have to deal with the dangers of the battlefield. Moreover, increased demand for smart PPE and armors to improve the safety of workers and soldiers is anticipated to boost the development of advanced protective gear and armor products during the forecast period.

Author Name(s) : Himanshu Joshi | Lalit Janardhan Katare

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