Explosives are chemical substances or mixtures that undergo a rapid and violent exothermic reaction when triggered, producing gas, heat, light and pressure. This reaction causes a sudden expansion of gases, leading to a powerful shockwave capable of breaking or displacing materials. The primary purpose of explosives is to perform tasks that require sudden and intense energy release, such as in mining, construction (e.g., demolition), military operations and fireworks. They are used for breaking rock, shaping terrain, or delivering destructive force in controlled or tactical applications.
The explosives market consists of sales of explosives by entities (organizations, sole traders and partnerships) that are engaged in the production and distribution of explosives. The market includes civil explosives used for activities like rock blasting, tunneling and demolition, as well as military-grade explosives utilized in munitions, warfare and defense systems.
The global explosives market was valued at $33,068.17 million in 2019 which grew till 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 3.00%.
Rising Terrorism
Rising terrorism fueled the growth of the explosives in the historic period. Increasing terrorism increases demand for explosives primarily from security and defense sectors as governments strengthen counter-terrorism measures. This drives investments in advanced detection, disposal technologies and controlled explosive materials for military and law enforcement use. However, it also leads to stricter regulations and tighter controls on explosive manufacturing and distribution to prevent misuse. Overall, heightened security concerns can both stimulate innovation and complicate market dynamics in the explosives industry. For instance, in March 2025, according to ReliefWeb, a US-based humanitarian information portal, the number of countries that experienced a terrorist attack increased from 58 to 66 countries in 2024. Therefore, the rising terrorism drove the growth of the explosives market.
Strengthening Global Defense Ties Through Strategic Alliances
Companies in the explosives market are adopting a strategic partnership approach to enhance technological integration and expand market reach. A strategic partnership is a collaborative alliance between two or more organizations that leverage their combined resources, capabilities and expertise to pursue shared business objectives and drive mutual growth. For instance, in May 2025, Reliance Defence Ltd, an India-based defense manufacturing firm, has entered into a strategic partnership with Rheinmetall AG through a memorandum of understanding to jointly manufacture and supply explosives and propellants for medium- and large-caliber ammunition. The collaboration involves the establishment of a new greenfield facility in the Watad Industrial Area of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra and is aimed at catering to both export markets and joint marketing initiatives. This marks one of the most significant deals in India's high-tech ammunition sector, reinforcing the strength of the Indo-German defense partnership. Rheinmetall AG is a Germany-based defense and automotive technology company.
The global explosives market is fairly fragmented, with large number of players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 21.87% of the total market in 2023.
Explosives Global Market Opportunities And Strategies To 2034 from The Business Research Company provides the strategists; marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the global explosives market as it emerges from the COVID-19 shut down.
Reasons to Purchase
- Gain a truly global perspective with the most comprehensive report available on this market covering 15 geographies.
- Understand how the market is being affected by the coronavirus and how it is likely to emerge and grow as the impact of the virus abates.
- Create regional and country strategies on the basis of local data and analysis.
- Identify growth segments for investment.
- Outperform competitors using forecast data and the drivers and trends shaping the market.
- Understand customers based on the latest market research findings.
- Benchmark performance against key competitors.
- Utilize the relationships between key data sets for superior strategizing.
- Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high-quality data and analysis.
Where is the largest and fastest-growing market for explosives? How does the market relate to the overall economy; demography and other similar markets? What forces will shape the market going forward? The explosives market global report from The Business Research Company answers all these questions and many more.
The report covers market characteristics; size and growth; segmentation; regional and country breakdowns; competitive landscape; market shares; trends and strategies for this market. It traces the market's history and forecasts market growth by geography. It places the market within the context of the wider explosives market; and compares it with other markets.
The report covers the following chapters
- Introduction And Market Characteristics- Brief introduction to the segmentations covered in the market, definitions and explanations about the segment by type, by application, by pyrotechnics application and by basic chemical.
- Key Trends- Highlights the major trends shaping the global market. This section also highlights likely future developments in the market.
- Growth Analysis And Strategic Analysis Framework- Analysis on PESTEL, end use industries, market growth rate, global historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029, 2034F) market values and drivers and restraints that support and control the growth of the market in the historic and forecast periods, forecast growth contributors and total addressable market (TAM).
- Global Market Size And Growth- Global historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029, 2034F) market values and drivers and restraints that support and control the growth of the market in the historic and forecast periods.
- Regional And Country Analysis- Historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029, 2034F) market values and growth and market share comparison by region and country.
- Market Segmentation- Contains the market values (2019-2024) (2024-2029, 2034F) and analysis for each segment by type, by application, by pyrotechnics application and by basic chemical in the market. Historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029) and (2029-2034) market values and growth and market share comparison by region market.
- Regional Market Size And Growth- Regional market size (2024), historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029, 2034F) market values and growth and market share comparison of countries within the region. This report includes information on all the regions Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa and major countries within each region.
- Competitive Landscape- Details on the competitive landscape of the market, estimated market shares and company profiles of the leading players.
- Other Major And Innovative Companies- Details on the company profiles of other major and innovative companies in the market.
- Competitive Benchmarking- Briefs on the financials comparison between major players in the market.
- Competitive Dashboard- Briefs on competitive dashboard of major players.
- Key Mergers And Acquisitions- Information on recent mergers and acquisitions in the market covered in the report. This section gives key financial details of mergers and acquisitions, which have shaped the market in recent years.
- Recent Developments- Information on recent developments in the market covered in the report.
- Market Opportunities And Strategies- Describes market opportunities and strategies based on findings of the research, with information on growth opportunities across countries, segments and strategies to be followed in those markets.
- Conclusions And Recommendations- This section includes recommendations for explosives providers in terms of product/service offerings geographic expansion, marketing strategies and target groups
- Appendix- This section includes details on the NAICS codes covered, abbreviations and currencies codes used in this report.
Markets Covered:
- 1) By Type: C4; HMX; PETN; RDX; Dynamite; ANFO; Other Types
- 2) By Application: Military; Mining; Quarrying; Construction; Other Applications
- 3) By Pyrotechnics Application: Display; Consumer; Proximate; Other Pyrotechnics Applications
- 4) By Basic Chemical: Ammonium Nitrate; Nitroglycerin; Toluene; Nitric Acid; Sulfuric Acid; Acetone; Urea; Other Basic Chemicals
- Companies Mentioned: Orica Limited; Hanwha Corporation; Dyno Nobel (formerly Incitec Pivot); Solar Industries India Ltd; AECI Ltd.
- Countries: China; Australia; India; Indonesia; Japan; South Korea; USA; Canada; Brazil; France; Germany; UK; Italy; Spain; Russia
- Regions: Asia-Pacific; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; North America; South America; Middle East; Africa
- Time-series: Five years historic and ten years forecast.
- Data: Ratios of market size and growth to related markets; GDP proportions; expenditure per capita; explosives indicators comparison.
- Data segmentations: Country and regional historic and forecast data; market share of competitors; market segments.
- Sourcing and Referencing: Data and analysis throughout the report is sourced using end notes.