5 Biggest Industries in the World in 2021

In this article, we are going to list the 5 Biggest Industries in the World in 2021. To read our detailed analysis of the global industry trends, please go to the 10 Biggest Industries in the World in 2021.

5. Life and Health Insurance

Market value: $8.45 trillion

The health insurance industry ranks 5th on the list of the biggest industries in the world in 2021. According to Deloitte’s industry study, the life and health insurance industry will expand by 3% in 2021, but volume will not return to where it was before until after the fourth quarter of 2022. Even in the middle of a pandemic, the life and health insurance industry remained resilient as they continued doing business over video conferencing platforms. According to a survey conducted by LIMRA, 98% of financial services respondents believe their customers are becoming more interested in purchasing services online and using video engagement tools.

One of the biggest insurance providers Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU) provides services online where the consumers will be guided by a financial advisor in purchasing their insurance digitally. On top of that, Prudential has lowered the paramedical test criteria for new life plans with a face value of $3 million or less in certain cases to limit in-person appointments. Shares of PRU increased by 110% over the past twelve months. In 2020, the company’s revenue was $57 billion.

Cigna Corp (NYSE: CI) is one of the largest health insurance companies with over 70,000 employees serving clients worldwide. The company is one of the biggest health insurers that benefited the most from the pandemic. Cigna had revenue of $160.4 billion in 2020. Shares of CI increased by 69% over the past twelve months. 

4. E-commerce

Market value: $9.09 trillion

Ranking 4th on the list of 10 biggest industries in the world in 2021 is the e-commerce industry which hit an all-time high of 16.4% of overall global retail sales as countries locked down and stores were forced to close based on data from McKinsey. In the first half of the decade, the global e-commerce market is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 8.1%, with Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East rising faster than the United States.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE: BABA) holds the largest market for online retail shopping globally as it operates through Taobao.com (15%) and Tmall.com (14%) while the largest online retail company in the US, Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) accounts for 13% of the global market. Alibaba’s revenue in the quarter that ended in December 2020 was $29.9 billion in the core commerce alone. 

3. Commercial Real Estate

Market value: $9.6 trillion

Surviving the pandemic, the commercial real estate sector ranks 3rd on the list of the 10 biggest industries in the world in 2021. Commercial real estate offices shifted to digital operations due to the lockdown. Due to economic deflation and an unpredictable pricing climate, global commercial real estate deal volume fell 36% year over year to $306 billion in the second quarter of 2020. 

Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) is the world’s largest real estate company headquartered in Toronto, Canada with $602 billion total assets under management and $77 billion deployable capital. Shares of BAM increased by 64% over the past twelve months. 

Zillow Group (NASDAQ: Z), based in Seattle, is an e-commerce site for commercial real estate where a consumer can buy, rent, sell a property. The Zillow Group owns a range of rental and purchases listing sites and applications and it makes revenue by offering property management companies to promote their listings. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Zillow’s revenue amounted to $789 million with over 2.2 billion website visits. Shares of Z increased by 446% over the past twelve months.

2. Construction

Market value: $12.5 trillion

Ranking 2nd on the list of the 10 biggest industries in the world in 2021 is the construction sector. The construction industry accounts for approximately 13% of the world’s GDP. It serves the world by building houses, schools, malls, mills, factories, roads, and infrastructures. Although the construction industry is worth trillions of dollars, the sector has grown only 1% in the last 20 years. The construction industry has faced challenges in 2020 mainly due to the temporary halt of manufacturing facilities for construction materials. But the industry is to come back bigger and stronger with nations pushing for zero-net emissions by 2050. Biden’s $2 trillion initiative to develop carbon-free power production by 2035 is one of the industry’s growth drivers.

D.R. Horton, one of the largest homebuilders in the United States, thrived through the pandemic, as demand remained high despite a small supply of affordable homes. D.R. Horton Inc made a net sales of $6.4 billion building 20,418 homes in the first quarter of 2021. Shares of D.R. Horton Inc (NYSE: DHI) increased by 189.8% over the past twelve months.

Lennar Corp (NYSE: LEN) is also a leading US-based house construction company. The Miami-based construction company built over 52,000 homes in 2020 making a total revenue of $22.5 billion. Shares of LEN increased by 226.5% over the past twelve months.

1. Financial Services

Market value: $22.5 trillion

Topping the list of the 10 biggest industries in the world in 2021 is financial services. The finance industry supported the rest of the industries on the list to financially survive the effects of the pandemic recession. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic pushed a sudden increase in digitization and digital participation in financial services in 2020. During the surge of the virus, there has been increasing use of digital wallets and online bills payment. In a survey published in April 2020 by The Strawhecker Group and Electronic Transactions Association, 27% of U.S. small businesses have seen an increase in customers using contactless payment apps. Even after the pandemic, 74 % of global customers claim they will use contactless payment systems as it is the new norm.

The year 2020 was one of the strongest years for the financial service business of PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL). The company had revenue of $21.45 billion in 2020 and processed a total of 15.4 billion payment transactions. In October 2020, PayPal started offering crypto services on its platform.

Although the pandemic caused Mastercard Inc (NYSE: MA) and Visa (NYSE: V) some short-term distress, the companies are thriving as they are shifting towards digital payments. 

You can also take a peek at the 15 Most Valuable App Companies and 10 Best Hong Kong Stocks To Buy For 2021.

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