Global Mobility Services Revenue to Plunge by $450bn Amid COVID-19 Crisis

As the coronavirus crisis rages, public life in all countries is grinding to a halt. The social distancing rules forced millions of people worldwide to change their daily routine, including the way they travel or use mobility services.

According to data gathered by Buy Shares, the revenue of the global mobility services market is expected to plunge by $450bn year-on-year, falling to $616bn value in 2020.

Flights and Taxi Services to Lose $395.3bn in Revenue

The mobility services market includes flights, ride-hailing, taxi services, long-distance bus travel and train tickets, car rental hires and car-sharing services, booked online and offline. In 2017, the revenue of the global mobility services segment amounted to $975bn, revealed Statista Global Consumer Survey. Over the next two years, this figure rose to $1.06trn. Flights, taxi and ride-hailing services, as the two leading segments, generated nearly 80% of that value.

However, the COVID-19 crisis came as a new shock to the market already faced with growing environmental concerns, new regulatory trends, and changing customer preferences. Statistics show the flight segment is expected to lose 47% of revenue in a year, falling from $538.6bn in 2019 to $285.3bn in 2020.

Ride-hailing and taxi services are set to witness a 37% drop, with the revenues plunging by $37.8bn and reaching $53.3bn this year. The combined revenues of the train and bus segment are forecast to plummet by $46.7bn, reaching $77.4bn value in 2020. Car rental services are expected to witness a 41% drop year-on-year, reaching $53.3bn in revenue by the end of the year. The incomes of the market’s smallest segment, the car-sharing services, is expected to drop to $2.1bn in 2020, a 22% fall year-on-year.

Statista data also revealed the recovery of the mobility services market after the coronavirus crisis is expected to last at least three years, with the revenue reaching $1.17trn in 2023, only a 10% increase compared to pre-COVID 19 figures. By the end of 2024, this figure is forecast to touch $1.3trn.

The Number of Users to Plunge by 591 Million in 2020

Online sales accounted for 68% of the total mobility services revenues in 2020, a 1% increase year-on-year. This figure is expected to rise to 72% by 2024.

Statistics also show the entire market is set to witness a substantial drop in the number of users amid the COVID-19 crisis, falling from 4.2bn in 2019 to almost 3.6bn in 2020.

Flights and car-rental segments are expected to have the most significant share in that negative trend. Statista Global Consumer Survey revealed that in 2019, the number of users in the flight segment amounted to 993.7 million. This figure is forecast to stumble to 511.5 million in 2020, a 48% drop year-on-year. The number of people using car rental services worldwide is expected to plunge to 266.1 million this year, a 40% decrease compared to 2019 figures.