The Pest Control industry is a very important one, because pests can create severe problems for humans. Sometimes that means destroying their homes, such as the case with termite damage, and sometimes pests affect the food supply. Pests may also spread disease and cause other problems.
Just what is a Pest?
When most people think of a past - at least the kind that is removed by an exterminator - they think of insects. However, insects are only one type of pests that is out there. Pest control refer to any animal or insect that causes problems for humans - and this includes causing problems with things that affect humans such as agriculture. Pests also refer to plants that create problems for humans, and some definitions even include smaller organisms that can cause disease.
The point of all this is to realize that pests are varied and numerous all throughout the world. Pests pose a problem in every single country, affecting millions of people every year. This means that the market for pest control products and supplies is huge. The bulk of the market is pest control for individual use, whether that is for small-scale for a single household or large-scale for an entire farm. Then there are products specifically manufactured for pest control professionals.
Pest Control Products
There are lots of pest control products out there, ranging from the very basic and cheap to expensive products that are meant for use in commercial operations such as a farmer with many acres of crops. Just as an example, some of the pest control products on the market today include pesticides, herbicides, pest control devices such as mouse traps and fly strips and then a lot of different commercial products, some of them very expensive and extremely dangerous if not used correctly.
The History of the Pest Control Market
Pest control has been around for a very long time. You might say that the roots of the pest control industry started with the town rat catcher. But today, Pest control and Public Health are intertwined, and there are even government agencies around the world that have a great deal to do with pest control. The World Health Organization is one of those agencies involved in pest control efforts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, has released statements signifying that they endorse the use of pesticides as long as they are used responsibly. The CDC especially focuses on mosquito control because of the way that mosquitoes can carry disease and could spread an epidemic easily.
Predictions about the Pest Control Market
The Pest Control industry is massive around the world, but you can get especially accurate numbers from the United States. The professional pest control market in the United States is predicted to reach $10 billion dollars by the year 2020. Professional pest control products alone generated around $7.8 billion dollars in Revenue in 2015, which was nearly a 5% increase from the $7.4 billion dollars in revenue from 2014. This doesn't account for the pest control products that are marketed to consumers, or large-scale pest control products for farms and ranches.
One of the sectors of professional pest control that has contributed to the massive amount of revenue from professional pest control treatments is bed bugs. From 2014 to 2015, the revenue brought in from professional bed bug removal increased by more than $100 million with a total amount earned of around $573 million dollars. The number of bed bug service calls was estimated at 815,000 in 2015.
Another sector of pest control that makes up a significant portion of the revenue is wood treatment for termites. The revenue from post-construction termite service calls increased by 7.2% from 2014 to 2015. The average cost of termite removal and treatment averages to $891.
Find more statistics at Statista
The future of the Industry around the World
The global pest control market is one of the healthiest industries in the world. The industry is expected to grow steadily from now until the year 2020, and there are a number of factors affecting that. Population increase is definitely one of the reasons why the industry continues to grow, but economics around the world, urbanization, higher temperatures around the world and an increase in disposable income that can be used for pest control products are all things that must be taken into consideration as well
The Factors that could affect the Industry Negatively
There are also a few factors that could have a negative impact on the pest control industry at large. Industry regulations continue to multiply and become more stringent, especially in the United States and Canada. In addition, companies are facing challenges that they never have had before causing them to raise their prices. This means a higher price for the consumer as well of course, and both of those could slow or stagnate the industry. In addition, market trends could play a part as well.
Other Relevant Market Data
There are several segments of the pest control market, and you can divide the industry in two categories based on the particular segment that you are talking about. For example you can classify pest control by type, which includes chemical, mechanical and biological control. You can classify by the type of pests or by the application, whether it is residential, industrial or commercial.
But the biological pest control category is predicted to be the fastest-growing category up until the year 2021. However, agricultural applications are also extremely important, and command a large section of the industry, because of the sheer variety of pests that can affect crops. For example, mites, ticks, other insects, mice and rats, other miscellaneous rodents, slugs, snails and pest that are not insects or animals like bacteria, fungi, viruses, pathogens or weeds are all part of the problem.
