United Kingdom 3D Printing - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts (2024 - 2029)

The United Kingdom 3D Printing Market size is estimated at USD 0.66 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 1.15 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 11.70% during the forecast period (2024-2029).

The 3D printing market in the UK is growing because more industries are using additive manufacturing, more money is being spent on printers with higher capacities, technology is getting better, and government policies are getting better.

Key Highlights

• The focus of 3D printing has shifted from design and prototyping to manufacturing valuable items. In contrast to traditional manufacturing techniques, 3D printing does not require tooling; thus, it can help overcome various obstacles, such as high tooling costs. Although conventional manufacturing has lower per-unit costs, the initial tooling expenses are high, making low-volume manufacturing more expensive. By building components layer by layer, 3D printing reduces the amount of waste generated during the manufacturing process. Another area where 3D printing is better than traditional manufacturing is mass customization, especially for short production runs.
• As 3D printing presents companies and consumers with a comprehensive and expanding range of technical and economic benefits, it has changed the paradigm for manufacturing processes from mass production in centralized factories constrained by tooling and low-cost labor rates to mass personalization with distributed manufacture. It has fueled its adoption in almost every sector. Recently, Rolls-Royce unveiled the most significant metal part made by 3D printing, which is a component for a Trent XWB-97 aircraft engine.
• Over the past five years, increased investment in research and development has encouraged innovation and boosted demand for 3D printing. The government has invested over USD 200 million into additive manufacturing to increase its market share from 5% to 8% in 2025 in the 3D printing market worldwide as it offers a lifeline to the British economy after Brexit.
• Moreover, the COVID-19 outbreak has infected more than 25 lakh people worldwide and caused more than 1.7 lakh fatalities. More than one lakh people are affected in the United Kingdom alone, resulting in a scarcity of critical protective equipment such as face masks.Many 3D-printer organizations are trying to resolve the problem by using an additive manufacturing method to produce facemasks. Some companies have already produced thousands of 3D-printed masks that are donated to hospitals, pharmacies, paramedics, and social-care homes. Further, the 3DCrowd UK group was set up by palliative-medicine doctor James Coxon to raise USD 40,000 through a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign that will be used for the pandemic. Up until now, the group has successfully raised half the desired funds.
• However, small and medium-sized firms' common misconceptions about prototype procedures are impeding the adoption of additive manufacturing. Companies involved in the design, especially small and medium-sized businesses, are thinking about whether prototyping investments are good investments before trying to figure out what the pros and cons of the prototype are. The typical belief among these businesses is that prototyping is only an expensive step before manufacturing. Misconceptions about prototypes, a lack of technical knowledge, and a lack of traditional process controls are all things that are likely to slow the growth of the market.

United Kingdom 3D Printing Market Trends

Growing Demand for Industrial-grade 3D Printers

• Industrial 3D printers are upending the long-established manufacturing industry in the United Kingdom, from jigs and fixtures to final tooling. Companies may now build specialized, low-volume equipment and fixtures for a fraction of the cost of traditional methods, freeing up designers' and engineers' time for more profitable projects. Large, international manufacturers can now get the same benefits from a professional 3D printer as small manufacturers in a mall. This helps to improve and speed up operations while cutting down on downtime.
• According to the UK Department for Business, in the last year, there were around 5.51 million private sector enterprises in the United Kingdom, with approximately 914,475 of them being construction businesses and 762,480 being professional, scientific, and technological businesses. Many companies would create an opportunity for industrial 3D printing players to develop new products to capture market share.
• The automobile industry has led the way in additive manufacturing, with renowned firms such as Audi using 3D printers. Not only are the Audis of the world using 3D printers, but race car teams and original equipment manufacturers from every automaker are also. The earliest application of 3D printing for vehicle manufacturers was to create fixtures and tools to aid manufacturing. The most common parts printed by the vehicle industry are fixtures, cradles, and prototypes. These products must be solid, durable, and long-lasting.
• Several properties, ranging from customizability to reduced weight, make excellent robotics parts and complement 3D printing capabilities nicely. It is costly to manufacture and requires specialized designs for components such as grippers and sensor mounts for diverse applications. Robotics professionals use 3D printers for end-of-arm tooling and end-use parts ranging from gripper fingers to whole robot components to reduce total product weight and enable tools to move faster and carry heavier loads.
• To meet the various demands of the customer, the firms are providing various industrial-grade 3D printers. For example, Stratasys provides the Fortus 450mc Industrial FDM 3D Printer, the F900 Industrial 3D Printer, and many more. Stratasys FDM 3D Printers have the highest accuracy, speed, and variety of thermoplastic materials.

Healthcare Industry will Experience Significant Growth in Forecast Period

• 3D printing applications are expanding rapidly in the medical sector and are expected to revolutionize health care. The medical industry uses 3D printing in several broad categories, including tissue and organ fabrication, customized prosthetics, implants, anatomical models, and pharmaceutical research related to drug dosage forms, delivery, and discovery. It provides several benefits, such as customization and personalization of medical products, drugs, and equipment, cost-effectiveness, and efficient productivity. According to the national statistics office, healthcare expenditure in the UK accounted for approximately USD 290 billion last year.
• The surging need for 3D-printed, personalized, and better-performing implants has fueled the collaboration of hospitals and organizations to offer 3D printers and training to health professionals to develop the devices. For example, Axial3, a medical manufacturing service provider, has partnered with Newcastle Hospitals in England to provide an on-site 3D printing lab that practitioners will primarily use in orthopedics and spinal surgery to print patient-specific models for presurgical planning.
• The design flexibility offered by 3D printing is driving the demand for 3D-printed implants with higher performance. Implants can be designed with porous surface structures, which facilitates faster integration between a living bone and the artificial implant. The 3DLifePrint has secured an investment of USD 1.2 million to expand its portfolio of embedded medical 3D printing hubs across hospitals and clinics and to recruit additional bio-medical engineers and 3D technologists to continue research and development.
• Increasing the application of 3D printing to produce modern prosthetics has decreased costs and surged its adaptation among users. The number of patients with an amputation or congenital limb deficiency attending specialist rehabilitation service centers in the United Kingdom is estimated to be around 60,000. The NHS in England spends about USD 60 million per year on rehabilitation services.This reveals the tremendous opportunity for the 3D printing market in the healthcare segment of the United Kingdom.
• Further, a team of researchers from the University of Bath and the University of Bristol leveraged ultrasound to develop a 3D bioprinting technique. The new approach superimposed several ultrasonic standing waves to generate controllable acoustic radiation forces that could direct airborne droplets to accumulate into precise pools, enabling unique biomaterial microarchitectures to be produced and modified rapidly.

United Kingdom 3D Printing Industry Overview

The United Kingdom 3D printing market is competitive and is dominated by significant players like Renishaw PLC, Stratasys Limited, EOS GmbH, Materialise NV , and AnisoPrint. With a prominent market share, these major players focus on expanding their customer base across foreign countries. These companies leverage strategic collaborative initiatives to increase their market share and profitability. However, with technological advancements and product innovations, mid-size to smaller companies are growing their market presence by securing new contracts and by tapping new markets.

October 2022: Fieldmade AS and Mark3D UK have announced a strategic collaboration arrangement to see Mark3D UK exclusively sell Fieldmade Nomad LW portable 3D printers in the UK. The announcement marks a significant shift in the go-to-market approach for the Markforged-based Fieldmade Nomad LW range's supply, support, and servicing.

May 2022: Anisoprint, a provider of continuous fiber 3D printing solutions, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Nanoracks Space Outpost Europe, a private in-space services company involved in the commercial utilization of the International Space Station (ISS), to strengthen its position as a space technology developer and enter the low-Earth orbit (LEO) and lunar economies. Anisoprint has made significant gains toward growing the resources network after being selected for pre-incubation in ESRIC's Startup Support Program to adapt continuous fiber 3D printing technology for microgravity settings.

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