The Slator 2022 Language Industry Market Report provides a comprehensive view of the global language services and language technology industry — an addressable market of USD 26.6bn in 2021, according to Slator research.
In 2021, the language industry made a full recovery following a relatively challenging 2020. Slator estimates the total addressable market grew by 11.75% compared to 2020.
The 2022 Language Industry Market Report is Slator’s annual flagship report. It analyzes the language industry through the lens of 10 primary buyer verticals, listing top-growing verticals by percentage and US-dollar growth. A geographic analysis lists market share and percentage growth per region and identifies the fastest-growing markets in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Slator also applies a buyer intentions framework to the industry, using a one-page matrix to map the concentration of specific buyer intentions across the 10 verticals, providing readers with a deeper understanding of language industry dynamics.
Next, the report analyzes the market from a language services perspective, with an infographic showing more than 200 core and adjacent services provided by leading language service providers (LSPs).
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Analyzing data from the Slator 2022 Language Service Provider Index (LSPI), which features more than 300 LSPs, the report examines the competitive landscape of LSPs by segment — Super Agencies, Leaders, Challengers, and Boutiques — and includes a segment-by-segment analysis of their growth and market share in 2021.
An 11-page interpreting services and technology chapter looks at the promising opportunities presented by this fast-growing segment. Demand drivers in the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, including the rise of telehealth, are examined. As remote tech transforms the sector, we assess the implications for growth, funding, and competition.
The report examines the state of play in the core translation technologies of machine translation and translation management systems (TMS). We analyze the rapidly-evolving machine translation ecosystem to outline the key players and business models, as well as provide an overview of investment and M&A activity and macro-trends in the TMS space.
Additionally, the report features coverage of the industry’s extremely buoyant 2021 M&A and funding environment and unpacks the strategic rationales and drivers that underpinned 2021’s major deals.
Diving into a high-growth sector, the report analyzes the market for video localization and features a 10-page chapter on media localization for OTT platforms in the context of the streaming boom and the local-for-global content trend.
We also shed light on various language technologies we call “frontier” as they have the potential to disrupt and expand the market for language services and technology in the coming years. The report highlights the latest advances in areas such as speech-to-speech translation and speech synthesis. Meanwhile, the expert-in-the-loop chapter looks at how a shift to post-edited machine translation has increased demand for true specialists and is driving innovation to enhance human-machine interaction.
Lastly, the report presents a market outlook and outlines the segments of the industry that are best positioned to win in the midterm as the industry grapples with transformational technology and macro-economic uncertainty.
The report can be used as a standalone resource and is best read alongside Slator’s complementary catalog of research reports and pro guides, such as the Slator 2021 Language Industry M&A and Funding Report and the Slator Video Localization Report.
Slator Research is available in pay as you go or to as part of our Growth, Pro, and Enterprise subscription.
Table of Contents
Language Services Industry Analysis | 6 |
Obtain the latest language industry intelligence, from industry size and percentage growth to market size per vertical, geographic region, and buyer intention. Find out how demand is concentrated across these segments to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics shaping the industry. | |
Competitive Landscape: Services | 18 |
Read up on the language industry services landscape, including market size and growth per LSP segment. Gain understanding of the services that underpin the language industry, with a one-page infographic that lists more than 200 core and adjacent services. | |
Interpreting Services and Technology | 23 |
Get to grips with interpreting market dynamics in the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Learn about how the rise of telehealth, along with other factors, is driving demand for interpreting and find out how the shift to remote interpreting tech impacts growth, funding, and competition. | |
Machine Translation | 35 |
Explore the rapidly evolving machine translation (MT) ecosystem, with an overview of key players and business models, from pre-trained models and self-service customization to fully managed MT services. | |
Translation Management Systems | 45 |
Identify the macro-trends currently shaping the translation management system (TMS) market. Zero in on 2021’s record-breaking M&A and investment activity to understand why TMS technology appeals to investors. | |
M&A and Funding | 49 |
Find out more about the major acquisitions, investments, and startup funding driving and reshaping the industry, and discover the strategic rationales that underpin them. | |
Video Localization | 56 |
Get an overview of the fast-growing video localization market with Slator’s framework for text and speech services across live and non-live settings. Explore the three key areas where video is taking a more prominent role –– media and entertainment, training and education, and meetings and events. | |
Media Localization | 60 |
In a 10-page special focus chapter, see how growth in the media localization sector is driving industry consolidation and fueling investment. Gain insight into the market dynamics that underlie more OTT (over-the-top) streaming content, more subscribers, more local productions, and more languages. | |
Frontier Technology | 71 |
Get ahead of the curve with Slator’s review of frontier language tech — from synthetic dubbing, to speech-to-speech translation to text generation — which is appealing to investors and causing ripple effects across the industry. | |
Expert in the Loop | 81 |
Understand the role of specialized linguists in completing the last mile of translation and seize the opportunity to be found in post-editing at scale. Discover the latest innovations for enhancing human-machine interaction. | |
Market Outlook 2022 | 87 |
Gain actionable insights into the language industry’s projected growth rate and market size, and find out which industry segments will emerge as winners and losers. | |
Appendices | 92 |
In addition to the 90-page body of the report, the report’s appendices feature additional market-size estimates (for G20 countries, Norway, and Switzerland) and underlying LSPI data for LSPI Super Agencies, Leaders, and Challengers. |
How to Use This Report
Slator’s easy-to-digest 2022 Language Industry Market Report offers the very latest industry and data analyses, providing language service providers, end clients, and investors the confidence to make informed and time-critical decisions. It is a cost-effective, credible resource for busy professionals.