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%.
Increased Military Expenditure
Increased military expenditure fueled the growth of the explosives in the historic period. Increased military expenditure directly boosts demand for explosives used in defense applications such as munitions, missiles and demolition operations. Higher defense budgets enable governments to invest in advanced weaponry and upgrade existing arsenals, driving procurement of high-performance explosive materials. This also encourages R&D in next-generation explosives with improved safety, precision and impact. As a result, explosives manufacturers benefit from sustained contracts and long-term growth opportunities within the defense sector. For instance, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a Sweden-based independent think tank, global military expenditure reached $2,718 billion in 2024, marking a 9.4% year-over-year increase in real terms from 2023. Therefore, increased military expenditure drove the growth of the explosives market.
Enhancing Defense Readiness Through Domestic Production
Companies in the explosives market are adopting strategic investments, such as establishing explosives factories to expand production capacity, enhance supply chain control and meet rising demand from mining and infrastructure sectors. For instance, in April 2025, Hexest AS, an Estonia-based state-owned company, is spearheading the development of a military-grade explosives facility focused on RDX-type explosives. Backed by an initial state investment for technical design and preparatory work, the project is expected to advance to full-scale development following a year-long design phase. The initiative aims to enhance Estonia's defense capabilities and address Europe's current shortfall in explosives manufacturing capacity, with plans to onboard a strategic investor from the European munitions or explosives sector in later stages.
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 23.2% of the total market in 2024.
Explosives Global Market Opportunities And Strategies To 2035 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 component and by application.
- 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).
- 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 robot type, by application and by industry 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 military unmanned underwater vehicles 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: Hanwha Corporation; Orica Limited; Solar Industries India Ltd.; Dyno Nobel (formerly Incitec Pivot); 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.