Smart Meters Market – Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, Segmented By Technology (Automatic Meter Reading (AMR), Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)), By Type (Energy, Water, and Gas), By Application (Industrial, Commercial, and Residential), By Region, By Competition 2021-2031F

Forecast Period	2027-2031
Market Size (2025)	USD 29.26 Billion
CAGR (2026-2031)	9.75%
Fastest Growing Segment	Residential
Largest Market	Asia Pacific
Market Size (2031)	USD 51.13 Billion

Market Overview

The Global Smart Meters Market will grow from USD 29.26 Billion in 2025 to USD 51.13 Billion by 2031 at a 9.75% CAGR. Smart meters are digital measurement devices that record energy consumption in near real-time and facilitate two-way communication between utility providers and end-users. This technology enables accurate billing, remote monitoring, and improved demand-side management. The primary drivers supporting market growth include the urgent need for grid modernization to accommodate renewable energy integration and stringent government mandates aimed at enhancing energy efficiency. These regulatory frameworks compel utilities to upgrade infrastructure, ensuring a steady demand for advanced metering solutions. According to the Institute for Electric Innovation, in 2024, it was projected that the number of smart meters installed in the United States would reach 142 million by 2026, illustrating the robust trajectory of deployment in major markets.

Despite this expansion, the market faces a significant challenge regarding data privacy and cybersecurity. As these devices transmit granular usage patterns, concerns regarding unauthorized access and the potential misuse of personal information have generated consumer resistance and regulatory scrutiny. This issue forces manufacturers and utilities to allocate substantial resources toward securing communication networks, which can increase implementation costs and delay project timelines, thereby potentially impeding broader market adoption.

Key Market Drivers

Supportive government policies and regulatory mandates are acting as the primary catalyst for the widespread adoption of smart metering solutions. Governments worldwide are implementing stringent targets and rollout schedules to ensure the transition from analog to digital infrastructure, driven by energy security goals and carbon reduction commitments. These frameworks often impose binding obligations on utility providers to achieve specific installation milestones, thereby guaranteeing a baseline of market activity regardless of economic fluctuations. For instance, according to the UK Parliament, November 2024, in the 'Smart Metering Implementation Programme Costs and Benefits Report', as of the end of June 2024, there were 36.2 million smart and advanced meters installed in Great Britain, representing 63% of all gas and electricity meters. Such mandates effectively force the retirement of legacy equipment, ensuring sustained demand for new units.

Simultaneously, the modernization of aging grid infrastructure and substantial investments in smart grids are critical for accommodating the complexities of modern energy systems. Utilities are upgrading networks to handle bi-directional power flows from distributed energy resources and to improve resilience against extreme weather events. This structural overhaul requires advanced metering infrastructure to provide real-time visibility and control. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), June 2024, in the 'World Energy Investment 2024' report, global spending on grids was projected to reach USD 400 billion in 2024, highlighting the massive capital allocation toward network digitalization. Emerging economies are also participating in this shift to reduce commercial losses and improve collection efficiency. According to Rediff Money, December 2024, approximately 7.3 million smart prepaid meters had been installed in India by November 2024 under the government's Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme.

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Key Market Challenges

The Global Smart Meters Market faces a significant impediment regarding data privacy and cybersecurity, which directly hampers the speed and breadth of market expansion. As smart meters facilitate two-way communication and transmit granular energy usage data, they introduce complex vulnerabilities that can be exploited for unauthorized surveillance or service disruption. This heightened risk profile generates substantial consumer skepticism and triggers rigorous scrutiny from regulatory bodies, who increasingly demand military-grade encryption and stringent data handling protocols before approving new deployments. The necessity to meet these elevated security standards complicates the procurement process and extends project lead times, preventing utilities from executing rapid rollout strategies.

These security requirements impose a severe financial burden that diverts capital away from network expansion. Utilities and manufacturers are forced to allocate a disproportionate share of their budgets toward hardening infrastructure against cyber threats rather than increasing the volume of meter installations. According to the Edison Electric Institute, in 2024, U.S. electric companies invested a record $178.2 billion to make the energy grid smarter and more secure, utilizing substantial capital to integrate resilience and protection measures. This massive expenditure on security compliance significantly raises the total cost of ownership for smart metering projects. Consequently, smaller utility providers often delay adoption due to budget constraints, while larger entities slow their deployment pace to manage the soaring costs of securing the digital grid.

Key Market Trends

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) is fundamentally shifting the market from simple data collection to advanced predictive analytics and automated grid management. Utilities are increasingly embedding AI algorithms directly into Meter Data Management (MDM) systems to automate labor-intensive tasks such as Validation, Estimation, and Editing (VEE), which traditionally required significant manual intervention. This technological leap allows for the real-time identification of non-technical losses and the prediction of asset failures with unprecedented accuracy, directly addressing operational inefficiencies. For instance, according to Investing.com, June 2025, in the article 'Oracle boosts utility data management with AI and in-memory processing', benchmarks for a new AI-powered platform demonstrated a 63% reduction in false positive high-usage exceptions, significantly lowering operational overhead for utility providers.

Simultaneously, the adoption of Cellular IoT and 5G connectivity is rapidly emerging as a superior alternative to proprietary Radio Frequency (RF) mesh networks for smart meter deployments. Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technologies, such as NB-IoT and LTE-M, offer deeper penetration in hard-to-reach areas and eliminate the need for utilities to build and maintain their own communication infrastructure. This trend is further accelerated by the emergence of Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) models, which allow municipalities to outsource connectivity management and focus on resource conservation. A notable example of this shift occurred when the City of Tucson committed to a major infrastructure upgrade; according to Smart Cities World, December 2025, in the article 'Tucson partners with Itron to conserve water', the utility began a deployment of 250,000 smart communication modules that utilize a managed cellular network to enhance water conservation efforts.

Segmental Insights

The residential sector represents the fastest-growing segment in the global smart meters market, primarily driven by extensive government mandates regarding grid modernization and energy conservation. Regulatory frameworks, such as the energy efficiency directives established by the European Union, compel utility companies to replace aging metering infrastructure with advanced digital solutions. This transition is essential for ensuring billing accuracy, enabling demand response programs, and supporting distributed energy generation at the household level. These large-scale residential rollouts allow utilities to improve operational efficiency while empowering consumers to monitor their usage patterns effectively.

Regional Insights

Asia Pacific dominates the Global Smart Meters Market primarily due to extensive government-mandated grid modernization initiatives and rapid urbanization. The region’s leadership is anchored by China, where the State Grid Corporation of China has executed widespread deployment to optimize energy management and distribution. Furthermore, India contributes significantly through its Smart Meter National Programme, managed by Energy Efficiency Services Limited, which aims to rectify billing inefficiencies and reduce commercial losses. These strategic nationwide rollouts, combined with regulatory directives for grid digitalization in Japan, collectively establish Asia Pacific as the principal driver of global market expansion.

Recent Developments

• In March 2025, Honeywell and Verizon Business announced a collaboration to integrate Verizon’s 5G connectivity into Honeywell’s next-generation smart meters. This technological integration allowed utilities to securely access real-time usage data and manage grid resources more efficiently through a high-speed, reliable cellular network. The partnership focused on enabling remote upgrades and advanced monitoring capabilities, thereby reducing the need for manual field maintenance. By leveraging 5G infrastructure, the initiative aimed to support the growing demand for autonomous grid management and assist utility providers in handling the increasing complexity of distributed energy resources and electric vehicle charging loads.
• In December 2024, Itron, Inc. finalized a major contract with LUMA Energy to modernize the electric grid in Puerto Rico through the deployment of approximately 1.5 million smart meters. As part of this initiative, the company agreed to provide its industrial internet of things (IIoT) network solution, which featured distributed intelligence and grid-edge capabilities. The project was designed to enhance operational awareness, improve outage detection, and facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources across the island. This extensive rollout represented a critical step in increasing the reliability and resilience of the local energy infrastructure while offering customers better visibility into their electricity consumption.
• In June 2024, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation achieved a significant milestone in the global smart meters market by delivering its first overseas smart meter system to Taiwan Power Company. Executed in cooperation with Glory Technology Service Inc. and Chunghwa Telecom, this project involved supplying a headend system to manage and control the metering infrastructure, along with communication modules embedded in the devices. The system utilized a mesh network configuration to ensure stable wide-area communication for data collection. This delivery marked Mitsubishi Electric's successful expansion of its energy management solutions beyond Japan, demonstrating the scalability and flexibility of its connectivity software for international utility operators.
• In February 2024, Landis+Gyr and SPAN announced a strategic partnership aimed at advancing electrification and enhancing grid flexibility through a new edge-to-edge interface. This collaboration focused on integrating Landis+Gyr's advanced metering technology with SPAN's smart electrical panel architecture to improve the utilization of existing utility assets. The companies worked to develop a solution that offered circuit-level, billing-grade metering along with improved visibility into distributed energy resources. By combining their respective technologies, the partners intended to help utilities and consumers manage energy more effectively, support decarbonization efforts, and build greater resilience into the power grid infrastructure.

Key Market Players

• Landis+Gyr Group AG
• Itron, Inc.
• Elster Group GmbH
• Sensus USA Inc.
• Hubbell Incorporated
• Diehl Stiftung & Co. KG
• Emerson Process Management LLP
• Badger Meter, Inc.
• Flonidan A/S
• Schneider Electric SE

By Technology	By Type	By Application	By Region
Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)	Energy Water Gas	Industrial Commercial Residential	North America Europe Asia Pacific South America Middle East & Africa

Report Scope:

In this report, the Global Smart Meters Market has been segmented into the following categories, in addition to the industry trends which have also been detailed below:

• Smart Meters Market, By Technology:

• Automatic Meter Reading (AMR)
• Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)

• Smart Meters Market, By Type:

• Energy
• Water
• Gas

• Smart Meters Market, By Application:

• Industrial
• Commercial
• Residential

• Smart Meters Market, By Region:

• North America
• United States
• Canada
• Mexico
• Europe
• France
• United Kingdom
• Italy
• Germany
• Spain
• Asia Pacific
• China
• India
• Japan
• Australia
• South Korea
• South America
• Brazil
• Argentina
• Colombia
• Middle East & Africa
• South Africa
• Saudi Arabia
• UAE