The number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices worldwide is forecast to more than double from 19.8 billion in 2025 to more than 40.6 billion IoT devices by 2034. In 2034, the highest number of IoT devices will be found in China, with around 7.51 billion consumer devices. IoT devices are used in all types of industry verticals and consumer markets, with the consumer segment accounting for around 60 percent of all IoT or connected devices in 2025. This share is projected to stay at this level over the next ten years.Â
Major verticals and use cases
Major industry verticals with currently more than 100 million connected IoT devices are electricity, gas, steam & A/C, water supply & waste management, retail & wholesale, transportation & storage, and government. Overall, the number of IoT devices across all industry verticals is forecast to grow to more than eight billion by 2033.
Major use-cases
The most important use case for IoT devices in the consumer segment are consumer internet & media devices such as smartphones, where the number of IoT devices is forecast to grow to more than 17 billion by 2033. Other use cases with more than one billion IoT devices by 2033 are connected (autonomous) vehicles, IT infrastructure, asset tracking & monitoring, and smart grid.