In 2024, life science applications accounted for about two-thirds of the overall market for laboratory instrumentation.  The analysis of biomacromolecules represents about 40% of the total demand, while downstream workflows such as QC and analytical service have more than half of the market.

TDA identifies three types of workflow categories including by application, analysis type and lab type. TDAs segmentation by applications describes the workflow as either being life science (LifeSci) or non-life science (Chemicals/Other).

Workflow category	Segments
Application	Life science, chemicals/other
Analysis Type	Small molecules, biomacromolecules, cell, chemicals
Laboratory Type (Lab Function)	Upstream: Discovery, development Downstream: Quality control, analytical services

Each workflow application is further segmented by the type of analysis being performed and by a lab’s main function. Segmentation by analysis type describes the application in terms of small molecules (LifeSci), biomacromolecules, organelles/cells/tissues, or chemical & materials.  Data by lab type is segmented by basic research (discovery), applied R&D (development), QC/manufacturing/processing, and analytical services. 

This workflow segmentation is added to TDA’s LAB DB industry data, a compilation of over 60 lab technologies, providing key benchmark information including market size ($million), growth (5-yr CAGR), unit shipments and vendor share. It has become the standard resource for the leading companies of the analytical and life science industry. Subscribers can benchmark the total addressable market (TAM) of individual lab technologies by key workflows, including applications, analysis type and lab type.

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic continue to be felt, on the individual level (e.g., elevated food and energy prices) through the global scale (e.g., subdued worldwide GDP growth). Although such major problems as supply disruptions have largely been overcome, the world economy continues to recover, having assumed additional challenges, such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

In each of the last several years, incremental changes have suggested that the return to ”normal” was not far in the future. Importantly, global recession has been averted, and inflation has been controlled and is approaching target levels. Nonetheless, uncertainties with ties to the pandemic (e.g., the rejection of incumbents in many 2024 elections) have been a cause for caution.

In some ways, the market for lab and analytical instruments has undergone a different experience. The industry, as a whole, maintained its positive growth trajectory during the pandemic years, albeit with larger fluctuations in growth rates than usual in many segments. However, since 2023, industry dynamics have in part been reactions to pandemic-related growth, predominantly characterized by market contraction (in many cases by comparison). Demand continues to be influenced by the pandemic but approaching activity levels similar to those prior to COVID-19.

Artificial intelligence, energy challenges, climate change and new blockbuster drugs (e.g., GLP-1) are key drivers for the lab and process market. However, the uncertainty of policies of newly elected administrations favoring deglobalization and deregulation have the potential to cause disruption, both in the analytical instruments industry and macroeconomically. As a result, our outlook for 2025 is somewhat subdued, leading to modest gains for the overall market. Nevertheless, the positive growth marks an inflection point in the right direction.

TDA’s Instrument Industry Outlook Report is available to premium member subscribers for download. Non-subscribers can purchase the report for a small fee. The report serves as an indispensable resource to track information and trends that are driving the performance of the analytical instrumentation industry. Forecasts, growth estimates and unit shipments are provided for over 60 analytical instrument technologies. This report provides key strategic information to plan for the year, tying in macroeconomic trends, R&D funding and other insights that are expected to impact the industry.