10 Most Profitable Industries in the World in 2020

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As industries around the world begin to open after months, let’s take a look at the 10 most profitable industries in the world in 2020 to glean an idea on which industries will recover the fastest. Covid-19 has disrupted the global economy like nothing before, in a completely unprecedented situation. As billions of people went into lockdown and all non essential businesses in most of the countries around the world were closed, we cannot even fathom the losses that have occurred in the past few months.

There is a bright light at the end of the tunnel though; many countries have now started lifting their lockdowns as both cases and deaths have decreased significantly from their peak. The US, unfortunately, is not one of them. Don’t get me wrong; all 50 states have engaged in lifting their lockdowns at least to some extent, while some have even resumed most businesses in states such as Texas and Florida, it’s just that the cases and deaths have not reduced to a number which would make this decision logical. In fact, there are now significant fears about a second wave as many states have started reporting their highest cases in weeks.

Because of the lockdown, thousands of businesses across the globe have gone bankrupt, and closed their doors permanently, resulting in tens of millions of people filing unemployment. Even now, as the industries start to open, the cost of implementing countermeasures to the novel coronavirus, and limitations on capacity means most business will struggle well after the lifting of restrictions.

If any industry will recover however, the most profitable industries in the world are likely to lead the charge. These industries engage in business which have great returns and high profits, and so, are likely to start recovering the losses during this period of uncertainty. In fact, some industries have even continued making profits during this pandemic. After all, there is a reason why the wealth of billionaires has increased by $308 billion from March to now, while as I mentioned earlier, the average person can barely make ends meet.

To find out the most profitable industries, we used statistics compiled here, which ranks the profits and other measures of global industries. These findings are based on data compiled from over 40,000 companies and bifurcating it by industry. We have used the two most important metrics for judging the profitability of an industry; it’s net income and the return on capital. Ultimately, a company which makes $50,000 on an investment of $1 million is more profitable than a profit of $50,000 on an investment of $10 million. You will also find most of the 10 most profitable companies in the world in 2020 belong to the industries mentioned below, starting with number 10:

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