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Home Movie Rentals

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The ways in which people obtain the movies they wish to watch at home have multiplied and changed over time, altering this market greatly. In 2005 the video rental store still had a 74% share of this market but this share has declined in favor of companies that offer a mail-in form of service, like Netflix, as well as kiosk style retail outlets. By way of punctuating this transition, in late summer 2010, Blockbuster, one of the largest video rental store chains still operating, filed for bankruptcy.

The market size listed here includes the following categories of video rental outlet: Subscriptions, Kiosks, Traditional Video-on-Demand (VOD), Video Stores, and Internet VOD.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: $7.8 billion
Source: USA TODAY, September 23, 2010, page 2B.
Original source: Screen Digest

“Other” Renewables

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In yesterday’s market size post we looked at nonhydropower renewable sources of electricity. These renewables are usually broken into four categories: wind, geothermal, solar and other. So, what does this “other” include? This category covers a wide range of methods for generating electricity and what follows is only a partial list of them: waste incineration, wood burning, connecting exercise bicycles in gyms to capture the kinetic energy they generate during spinning classes, and the harnessing of elephants and/or oxen to a grinding wheel used to turn a series of interlocking turbines. While each of these methods represent a small fraction of all electric production, together they accounted for 6.8% of renewable electricity generation in 2007.

For a thorough discussion of these many methods of generating electricity, and statistics for their prevelance in the United States, the LaMarotte blog has a wonderful post on the topic, available here.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2007
Market size: 235 billion kilowatt hours
Source: “Table 12. OECD and Non-OECD Net Renewable Electricity Generation by Energy Source, 2007-2035,” International Energy Outlook 2010, report available online here.
Original source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
Happy April Fools Day!

Electricity from Renewables

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Renewable Energy Sources Worldwide

Hydroelectric power plants are the largest producers of electricity from renewable sources. As we saw in yesterday’s Market Size post, they represented 15.97% of world electricity production in 2008. That same year, electricity produced by all other renewable sources accounted for 2.4% of electricity generated. While responsible for only a small percentage of all electricity generation now, renewable sources are forecast to grow steadily through 2035 at which point the nonhydropower portion will account for 7.26% of global production.

The pie chart shows how electricity is generated worldwide and provides a detail of the small pie slice that represents nonhydropower renewables. The renewable energy source that is forecast to grow most quickly in the next decade is solar.

Please note that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) projections exclude electricity generated by so-called off-grid sources, thus renewable energy consumed at the site of production. Energy produced by solar panels installed, for example, on a private home for the sole and exclusive use of the residents of that home is not counted in the EIA projections. If, however, those solar panels are tied into the public electric grid, then the electricity they generate is accounted for in the EIA projections. Time will tell how significant these off-grid electricity generation resources become.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2007 and 2035
Market size: 463 and 2,554 billion kilowatt hours respectively (please note this is the size of electicity generation from nonhydropower renewable sources)
Source: “Table 12. OECD and Non-OECD Net Renewable Electricity Generation by Energy Source, 2007-2035,” International Energy Outlook 2010, report available online here.
Original source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Hydroelectric Power

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The production of electricity with hydroelectric power plants represents 80% of all renewable electric power generation worldwide. Hydro plants work by using the flow of water to turn a turbine, which then turns a metal shaft in an electric generator, which is the motor that produces electricity. Hydroelectric power plants accounted for 15.97% of all electric power produced worldwide in 2008.

In the United States, 6% of electricity is generated in hydro plants, a relatively small percentage compared with other nations. The ability to use hydroelectric power plants to generate electricity is, of course, to a large extent a matter of having the resources needed to harness water’s power. Paraguay, for example, produces 100% of its electricity—as well as electricity enough to export—from hydroelectric power plants while Saudi Arabia has no hydroelectric power generation. A chart which shows the top twenty countries in the world based on their production of hydropower and based on the same source material is presented on the blog, LaMarotte, here.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2008
Market size: 2,998 Billion Kilowatt hours
Source: “Table 1387. Net Electricity Generation by Type and Country: 2008,” Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2011, page 867, available online here.
Original source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Nuclear Power Plants

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Energy Pie Chart

Electricity is generated in a variety of ways which are broken down into the six categories presented in the pie chart to the right. Each method of generating electricity has its pros and cons, its costs, risks, benefits, and advantage, all of which are much debated as we grapple with how best to produce electricity for a world whose demand for it grows annually. And growth in consumption is likely to speed up with the transition from the internal combustion engine to electric-powered vehicles (no pun intended).

Nuclear power plants accounted for 13.8% of global electricity generation in 2008. Nations who use nuclear power generation for the largest percentages of their electricity needs include France (78%), Belgium (55.8%), and Ukraine (47.1%). To see a nice chart of the top twenty leading nuclear power dependent nations, visit the LaMarotte blog, here.

Worth noting is the fact that Japan is among the twenty nations who depend most on nuclear power to generate its electricity. It comes in 10th on that list with 23.7% of its electricity generated at nuclear power plants in 2008.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2008
Market size: 2,590 billion kilowatt hours
Source: “Table 1387. Net Electricity Generation by Type and Country: 2008,” Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2011, page 867, available online here. The data used to make the pie chart are for 2008 and come from the EIA’s International Energy Outlook 2010, available online here.
Original source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Electric Power Generation

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By way of noting this year’s “Earth Hour” (May 26, 2011)—as well as the ongoing challenges being faced by the Japanese as they struggle to get a damaged nuclear power plant stabilized—this week our market size items will all be related to electric energy markets.

We are voracious consumers of electricity, particularly in the industrialized world where even many toothbrushes plug into an electric outlet. Today’s market size is the size of the world’s capacity for generating electricity. Tomorrow we’ll start breaking this down by how the electric power is generated, with coal, hydroelectric dam, nuclear plant, solar panels, etc.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2008
Market size: 18,778.7 billion kilowatt hours
Source: “Table 1387. Net Electricity Generation by Type and Country: 2008,” Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2011, page 867, available online here.
Original source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

Sports Equipment

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As basketball fans indulge in the offerings of March Madness, we look at sales of sporting equipment. Interestingly, when it comes to basketball, there is not much equipment needed, just a hoop and a ball. Basketball apparel, well, that’s another matter. Sporting apparel is not, however, included in today’s market size although it is included in the source table for those interested. Today’s market size covers a vast array of sporting equipment types, from fishing rods to golf clubs, tennis rackets to scuba tanks, and skis to fencing foils, to name but a few. Oh, and exercise equipment is included as well.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2009
Market size: $24.6 billion
Source: “Table 1249 – Sporting Goods Sales by Product Category: 1990 to 2008, and Projection, 2009,” Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2011, page 770, available online here.
Original source: National Sporting Goods Association

Sleep Clinics and Centers

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Sleep for many is an illusive thing, making life very difficult and for some few the inability to sleep can be so complete that it leads to death. This fatal and extremely rare sleeping disease is called Fatal Familial Insomnia (IFF). Thankfully, for most people suffering from sleep disorders, there are a variety of remedies that may be tried to isolate the cause of the problem and then treat it. This is done, for the most troubled sleepers, in sleep clinics and centers. The market size listed below is an industry estimate of what those clinics and sleep centers will earn in 2011. Another interesting item related to sleep, in 2008, 56 million prescriptions for sleeping pills were written in the United States, representing a sharp increase over the preceding years.

Wishing you sweet dreams.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2011
Market size: $4.5 billion
Source: Max D. T., “The Secrets of Sleep,” National Geographic, May 2010, page 81.

App Store Sales

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We hear a lot about “apps” these days, or application programs. But what are they, really. These are computer programs designed as standalone software to run on a variety of devices, usually mobile devices. These apps are sold through online stores and usually have a well defined and somewhat limited purpose. They usually have a filename extension “.app” for use on mobile operating systems such as Android; iOS (Apple); Linux; MeeGo; Microsoft Mobile; RIM (BlackBerry); and Symbian.

Apps are a class of products whose market is based on volume. The average price of an app is around $2.50, (reached with a lot sold for 99¢ and a few sold for $9.00 plus) so a whole lot of apps had to sell in order to reach the market size presented below. There are 5 billion mobile device subscribers worldwide, according the the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Now, all mobile devices are not “smart” devices and thus are not equipped to run apps. Nonetheless, based on the fact that an estimated 10% of these 5 billion devices are smart we can calculate, very generally, that each one of these smart device owners bought just under two apps in 2010. There seems room for growth here…

As a side note, that figure of 5 billion mobile device subscribers is rather noteworthy given that the world population in 2010 was just shy of 7 billion. Food for thought.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2010
Market size: $2.15 billion
Source: Whitney, Lance, “Report: Apple Remains King of App Store Market,” CNET News, February 15, 2011, available online here. Also, press release from the ITU which is available online here.
Original source: IHS Screen Digest, February 2011

Apparel Sales

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The market size presented here is based on estimates of the total retail sales value of all apparel sold in the United States in 1999 and ten years later, in 2009. The retail value of apparel sales over this period grew by 37.4% but when adjusted for inflation, that growth rate was actually only 8.4% for the period. By way of comparison, U.S. population growth over this period was 10.1% (from 279.3 million to 307.4 million). Worth noting, however, is the fact that while population had a steady growth rate over this period, the measure of growth between two points in time for something like apparel sales may be deceptive. In 2006, for example, retail sales of apparel in the United States were probably much higher than in 2009, a recessionary year.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1999 and 2009
Market size: $222 and $305 billion respectively
Source: Alva, Marilyn, “Consumers Are Spending Again But They’re Picky,” Investor’s Business Daily, January 4, 2011, page A5.
Original source: Credit Suisse

Steel Production

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The production of crude steel around the world rebounded in 2010, rising 15% over the 2009 production levels. In terms of crude steel production by nation, China led the world in 2010 with 44.32% of world production, followed by Japan with 7.75%, the United States with 5.70% and Russia with 4.47%.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2010
Market size: 1,414 million metric tons
Source: “World Crude Steel Output Increases by 15% in 2010,” January 21, 2011, available online here.
Original source: World Steel Association

Appliances

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This market size, presented for 2007 and 2010, clearly shows the impact that the recession which began in December of 2007 has had on the worldwide sale of household appliances. The market sizes listed here include retail sales of refrigerators, other than compact refrigerators; freezers; dishwashers; ovens; ranges; range hoods; cooktops; washers and dryers.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2007 and 2010
Market size: $14.2 and $13.1 billion respectively
Source: Hagerty, James R. and Sven Grundberg, “Whirlpool and Electrolux Post Weak Results, Face Price Pressures,” The Wall Street Journal, February 3, 2011, page B6.
Original source: NPD Group

Pollinators

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An often heard or read phrase related to agricultural production goes as follows: You can thank pollinators for one out of three bites of food you eat. Of course, that assumes you have a nutritionally balanced diet. But the point is clear. One-third of crops used to produce food for human consumption come from plants that depend on pollination to reproduce. In the United States it is estimated that the value annually of crops that are pollinated by insects is $40 billion and this figure does not include the value of non-food crops that also depend upon pollinators, like cotton, for example. The market size figure presented below is an estimated value to the world every year of pollination done by insects and animals.

For anyone not familiar with pollination, it is the process by which pollen is moved from one place on a flowering plant to another. Pollen grains contain the male contribution to the fertilization process and are moved through pollination to the female parts of the plant so that offspring may be produced. Without pollination, a flowering plant will not bear fruit or seeds. Insects and some animals serve as transporters in this process, as does the wind for some plants.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2010
Market size: $200 billion
Source: “Gold Dusters,” National Geographic, March 2011, page 121.
Original source: United Nations, Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO). Another source of interesting information about pollination and crops is available here from the National Biological Information Infrastructure, a program administered by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Snowmobiles in the United States

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The United States is a country that loves its motorized vehicles. In rural regions of the country where snow covers the landscape for nearly half the year, snowmobiles serve as both a sporting entertainment as well as a working vehicle. The United States is the largest national market for snowmobiles.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: 48,599 snowmobiles sold for an estimated retail value of $414 million.
Source: “Snowmobile Statistics,” International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, available online here.

Snowmobiles in Canada

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As a country with vast expanses of land, often covered by a layer of snow, it is no wonder that Canada is the second largest national market for snowmobiles. What is remarkable is that in 2010 one snowmobile was sold in Canada for every 912 people. So, Canada is by far the leading national market for snowmobiles on a per capita basis.

Geographic reference: Canada
Year: 2010
Market size: 37,670 snowmobiles sold for an estimated retail value of $374 million.
Source: “Snowmobile Statistics,” International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, available online here.

Snowmobiles

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The United States and Canada are by far the two largest national markets for snowmobiles in the world. The United States accounted for 44% of all snowmobile unit sales in 2010 while Canada, with 0.5% of the world population, accounted for 34% of all snowmobile unit sales.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2010
Market size: 111,492 snowmobiles sold.
Source: “Snowmobile Statistics,” International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, available online here.

Fish and Fishery Product Exports

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Exports of fish and fishery products have grown quickly in the last decade, as has all production of fish and fishery products, whether through capture (fishing) or aquaculture (cultivation). Leading fish and fishery product exporters in the world are, in order, China, Norway, Thailand, Denmark, Vietnam, and the United States. Together, the exports of these six countries in 2008 accounted for 36.5% of all exports.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 1998 and 2008
Market size: $51.45 and $101.98 billion respectively.
Source: “Table 11 — Top Ten Exporters and Importers of Fish and Fishery Products,” The State of Fisheries & Aquaculture 2010, page 52, available online here.
Original source: United Nations, Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), Fisheries and Aquaculture Department.

Fish and Fishery Product Imports

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Aquaculture is a fast growing part of the fish and fishery products market and as catches and harvests of this aquatic produce have increased over the last decade, so has the international trade of fish and fishery products. The top countries in terms of fish and fishery product imports are, in order, Japan, United States, Spain, France, Italy and China. Interestingly, China and the United States are also among the leading exporters of aquatic produce.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 1998 and 2008
Market size: $55.05 and $107.13 billion respectively.
Source: “Table 11 — Top Ten Exporters and Importers of Fish and Fishery Products,” The State of Fisheries & Aquaculture 2010, page 52, available online here.
Original source: United Nations, Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), Fisheries and
Aquaculture Department.

Catholic Population

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For this Ash Wednesday market size post, we looked up the size of the worldwide Catholic population, presented below. According to the source, half of all Catholics (49.4%) live in the Americas, a region of the world that contains about 14% of total world population.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2009
Market size: 1.181 billion.
Source: “World Catholic Population Growing; Mixed Results on Priestly, Religious Vocations,” CatholicCulture.org, February 21, 2011, available online here.
Original source: Annuario Pontifico, 2011 edition, The Vatican.

Aquaculture

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World Population and Aquaculture Production in 2008

Aquaculture is the cultivation of aquatic plants and animals for human use and is also referred to as aquafarming. To say that aquaculture has grown rapidly since 1970 would miss the point entirely. The quantity of aquatic produce harvested in 1970 was a mere fraction—1/20th—of that harvested in 2008. The growth of aquaculture has been strong across all regions of the world. Nonetheless, Asia has seen enough growth in aquacultural production to raise its already high percentage of world production in 1970 (69.6%) to a remarkable 88.8% in 2008. In the chart we provide here you will see the world’s population presented by region as well as the world’s aquacultural production by region.

The market sizes presented here do not include aquatic plants but do cover all caught and raised fish of any kind from marine and inland waterway sources.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 1980, 2000 and 2008
Market size: 4.7, 32.4 and 52.5 million tons respectively.
Source: “Table 4 — Aquaculture Production by Region: Quantity and Percentage of World Production,” The State of Fisheries & Aquaculture 2010, page 20, available online here. The population data used in the chart are from the Statistical Abstract of the United States 2011, available online here.
Original source: United Nations, Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), Fisheries and
Aquaculture Department and U.S. Census Bureau.