The metaverse, touted as the “inevitable evolution of the internet,” was first mentioned in the science fiction novel “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson.
Even though it is still in its rudimentary stages, the metaverse promises to provide a space for endless, immersive, and interconnected interaction.
Simultaneously, the metaverse will play a critical role in merging the physical and the virtual world.
To better understand this evolution, we have compiled the latest metaverse statistics to help you explore and understand this budding technology.
Top 8 Metaverse Statistics (Editor’s Pick)
- By 2030, the global metaverse revenue will rise to $490 billion.
- 47% of global Internet users worried the metaverse would lead to simulated reality addiction.
- 52% of users cited work possibilities as the main reason for joining the metaverse in 2021.
- 27% of millennials in 2022 would attend metaverse-based sporting events.
- As of 2021, 38% of Americans were unaware of Facebook’s VR metaverse project.
- 15.79% of businesses believed that only service companies should be present in the metaverse.
- 14.71% of businesses in 2022 believed metaverse technology had already peaked.
- 37% of game developers expected the metaverse to include gaming activities.
Infographic
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/metaverse-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/top-metaverse-statistics.png" alt="Top 8 Metaverse Statistics" width="768" border="0" height="824.96" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/top-metaverse-statistics-1430x1536.png 1200w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/top-metaverse-statistics-953x1024.png 953w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/top-metaverse-statistics.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/top-metaverse-statistics-279x300.png 279w" sizes="auto"></a>
Metaverse Market Size & Industry Statistics
1. The Web 2.0 metaverse market cap stood at $14.8 trillion in 2021.
In contrast, the web 3.0 metaverse was worth only $0.03 trillion.
2. The Metaverse real estate market will increase by $5.37 billion by 2026.
This represents a CAGR of 61.74%, with 41% of this growth being fuelled by North America.
Metaverse Revenue Statistics
3. The overall revenue opportunity for the American metaverse market was $8.3 trillion in 2022.
The real estate industry stood to generate the largest revenue share at 30.4%.
The motor vehicle (8.5%) and home (8.44%) industries came in second and third.
4. By 2030, the global metaverse revenue will rise to $490 billion.
Metaverse e-commerce revenue was around $20 billion in February 2023, expected to rise to $200 billion in 2030. Metaverse gaming revenue is expected to rise to $163 billion in 2030 from $10 billion in early 2023.
Metaverse Adoption & Awareness Statistics
5. Overcoming obstacles was the most significant benefit of the metaverse in 2021.
39% of users were happy to use the metaverse to do something they could not perform in real life. 34% of users cited using it increased their technological and literacy skills.
| Benefits of the Metaverse | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Overcoming obstacles | 39% |
| Enhancing creativity & imagination | 37% |
| Traveling the world without moving | 37% |
| Increasing technological literacy & skills | 34% |
| Connecting with new people without feeling awkward | 34% |
| Creating completely new job opportunities | 30% |
| Meeting your loved ones anytime you want | 30% |
| More possibilities in education | 29% |
| Giving opportunities for self-expression | 27% |
6. 31% of American adults were unfamiliar with the metaverse in 2022.
Only 38% of American adults were familiar with the metaverse, with 14% being “very familiar” with the platform. The remaining 31% had only heard of it.
7. 18% of Americans were excited about the metaverse in 2022.
33% of Americans were curious about the metaverse, with 16% being optimistic about its impact. On the other hand, 27% were uninterested, while 23% found it very suspicious.
8. 26% of Americans in 2022 believed the metaverse would be the “future of technology.”
As of January 2022, another 9% of Americans felt the metaverse was a better alternative to real life, while 30% thought it was not. 20% believed it posed a danger to personal privacy, while 18% thought it was a great way to socialize and play.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/metaverse-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/americans-opinion-metaverse.png" alt="The Opinions of Americans on Metaverse" width="768" border="0" height="533.02486986698" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/americans-opinion-metaverse-1536x1066.png 1536w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/americans-opinion-metaverse-1024x710.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/americans-opinion-metaverse.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/americans-opinion-metaverse-300x208.png 300w" sizes="auto"></a>
9. 15% of UK internet users believed brands should advertise in the metaverse.
In 2021, 22% of the US online audience supported the same notion.
Likewise, 13% of US and 19% of UK netizens suggested brands should utilize the metaverse to offer a more immersive experience.
10. 47% of global Internet users worried the metaverse would lead to simulated reality addiction.
Another 41% believed it would cause a surge in mental health issues, while 41% were worried about privacy.
11. The biggest concern for metaverse users in 2022 was the safety of their data.
55% of users were concerned that their data would be misused, 44% were worried about cyberbullying and online abuse, 38% were concerned about sexual harassment, and 37% about offensive or damaging behavior.
12. 60% of metaverse users wanted suicide content to be wholly censored.
57% supported total censorship of animal abuse, 52% had the same stance on hate speech and harassment, and 48% felt the same way about racist content.
49% and 53% wanted some restrictions (but not censorship) on sexually explicit and alcohol and drug content, respectively.
Metaverse Use Cases Statistics
13. 52% of users cited work possibilities as the main reason for joining the metaverse in 2021.
While those users wanted to use the metaverse for networking and virtual workspaces, 48% wanted to join for art and live entertainment. 44% wanted to join to invest in NFTs and cryptocurrencies.
14. 74% of Americans in 2021 considered joining the metaverse.
41% of the surveyed respondents wanted to experience something they could not in reality, 40% wanted to communicate with others, and 28% just wanted an escape from reality.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/metaverse-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/why-americans-wanted-metaverse.png" alt="Why Americans Wanted to Join the Metaverse" width="768" border="0" height="702.43902439024" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/why-americans-wanted-metaverse-1536x1405.png 1312w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/why-americans-wanted-metaverse-1024x936.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/why-americans-wanted-metaverse.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/why-americans-wanted-metaverse-300x274.png 300w" sizes="auto"></a>
15. 38% of global respondents in 2021 wanted to engage in extreme sports within the metaverse.
Surprisingly, these were activities they would never do in reality.
24% wanted to pretend to be someone else, 23% wanted to spend on collectibles, and 22% wanted to try big game hunting.
Conversely, 14% wanted to engage in hate speech, while 20% wanted to participate in adult games.
16. 25% of global users will spend an hour daily in the metaverse for digital work in 2026.
Additionally, 30% of businesses will offer products and services in the metaverse.
24% believed the metaverse would completely replace social media.
However, 66% believed it could completely replace social media.
18. 27% of millennials in 2022 would attend metaverse-based sporting events.
29% of millennials were somewhat interested, but 48% of users across all generations were uninterested.
19. 61% of millennials were interested in attending a live metaverse-based music event in 2022.
However, 41% of individuals across all generations were not interested. Simultaneously, 32% of Gen Z individuals were somewhat interested, while 30% were not.
20. 24% of online Americans agreed that the price of a metaverse VR headset mattered a lot when it came to utilizing the metaverse.
In the 2022 survey, 15% of residents would be influenced to use the metaverse by an extensive content library. Other factors included whether family and friends were on it (14%), government regulations (14%), and workplace adoption (11%).
Metaverse Consumer Statistics (Demographics)
21. 87% of American adults were concerned about their privacy if Facebook succeeded in creating a metaverse.
The 2021 survey also revealed that 47% did not trust that their identity would be legally protected, while 37% feared that their transactions would not be very secure.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/metaverse-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/americans-concerned-about-privacy-security.png" alt="American Adults Concerned About Privacy and Security on Metaverse" width="768" border="0" height="782.72" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/americans-concerned-about-privacy-security-1507x1536.png 1200w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/americans-concerned-about-privacy-security-1005x1024.png 1005w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/americans-concerned-about-privacy-security.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/americans-concerned-about-privacy-security-294x300.png 294w" sizes="auto"></a>
22. As of 2021, 38% of Americans were unaware of Facebook’s VR metaverse project.
Meanwhile, only 11% had heard much about the project, 26% knew little, and 25% knew little about it.
23. 83.5% of the global metaverse market was aged under 18 in 2022.
Of these, 51% were 13 and under, while 78.7% were 16 and under.
Metaverse & Business Statistics
24. 17% of businesses within the Computer and IT sector had invested in the metaverse in 2022.
12% of businesses in the education sector and 11% of those in the finance sector were in second and third.
| Business Sectors | Share of Businesses Invested in the Metaverse |
|---|---|
| Computer & IT | 17% |
| Education | 12% |
| Finance | 11% |
| Marketing & Advertising | 10% |
| Medical & Health | 9% |
| Technology & Innovation | 7% |
| Travel & Hospitality | 6% |
| Construction | 5% |
| Transport | 5% |
| Customer Service | 4% |
| Manufacturing | 3% |
| Food & Hospitality | 3% |
| Services | 3% |
| Creative art & Design | 2% |
| Retail | 2% |
| Defense | 1% |
| Entertainment | 0% |
25. Over 1/3 of businesses invested in the metaverse, as of 2022, defined it as a “Virtual World.”
20.63% believed “metaverse” was Facebook’s rebrand name.
26. 22.19% of global companies invested in the metaverse because they saw it as “the future.”
As of March 2022, another 21.85% of these companies believed that the metaverse offered a range of new opportunities. 16.56% also thought that the metaverse was a new business method.
| Businesses’ Point of View | Percentage |
|---|---|
| The future | 22.19% |
| Full of opportunities | 21.85% |
| A new way of doing business | 16.56% |
| A new way of interacting | 15.23% |
| A new way of escaping reality | 11.26% |
| A new distraction | 6.62% |
| Dangerous | 4.3% |
| Useless | 1.99% |
27. 15.79% of businesses believed only service companies should be present in the metaverse.
As of March 2022, 41.05% of companies invested in the metaverse believed that all types of businesses be present, while another 17.37% believed that only tech companies should be present.
28. 11.3% of global businesses invested in the metaverse in 2022 thought that men were the target audience of the metaverse.
Meanwhile, only 8.6% thought that women were the target audience.
29. 15% of businesses invested in the metaverse sector to create their own virtual space.
As of March 2022, 53% and 44% of companies invested in the metaverse for cryptocurrencies and NFTs, respectively.
| Project | Percentage of Businesses Investing |
|---|---|
| Cryptocurrencies | 53% |
| NFTs | 44% |
| Work environment & remote work | 40% |
| Branding & Positioning | 30% |
| Buying of products | 27% |
| Gaming | 24% |
| Creation of a product | 24% |
| Real estate | 18% |
| Entertainment | 15% |
| Creation of our virtual world | 15% |
30. In 2022, 6% of businesses invested over 50% of their marketing and innovation budget in the metaverse.
Meanwhile, 33% invested 10%-20% of their marketing/innovation budget in the metaverse, while 26% of surveyed businesses invested less than 10%.
31. In 2022, 38.24% of businesses invested in the metaverse were concerned about cybersecurity.
Meanwhile, 25.49% worried that the metaverse trend would end, and another 25.49% worried it would take over real life.
32. 14.71% of businesses in 2022 believed metaverse technology had already peaked.
Meanwhile, 67.65% believed it would boom in the next five years, 13.73% put their money on the next ten years, and 2.94% had their mind on more than ten years.
Only 0.98% believed that it would never boom.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/metaverse-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/when-would-metaverse-boom.png" alt="Survey on When the Metaverse Would Boom" width="768" border="0" height="450.27313656828" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/when-would-metaverse-boom-1536x901.png 1536w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/when-would-metaverse-boom-1024x600.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/when-would-metaverse-boom.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/when-would-metaverse-boom-300x176.png 300w" sizes="auto"></a>
Metaverse Gaming Statistics
33. A third of American game developers felt that the metaverse was the next iteration of the internet.
In 2021, most American developers, while trying to define the metaverse, settled on a version that incorporated virtual reality, augmented reality, and video technologies.
34. 37% of game developers expected the metaverse to include gaming activities.
As of 2021, another 35% of game developers anticipated that there would be opportunities to create and sell content within the metaverse.
35. In 2021, 10% of American game developers thought NFTs and cryptocurrencies were essential to the metaverse.
50% believed that tech services, such as those in the entertainment industry, were necessary for a feasible metaverse.
Metaverse Apps & Devices Statistics
36. There was a spike in the number of apps using the term “Metaverse” between 2021-2022.
In September 2021, the number of apps with metaverse in their name was six.
This figure shot up to 29 in November 2021, 30 in December 2021, and 27 in January 2022. It was during this time that Facebook rebranded to Meta.
37. In 2022, 107 mobile gaming apps had the word “metaverse” as part of their name or description.
Finance apps came in second at 101, then social apps at 70.
Educational apps were last, with only 11 adopting the name tag or description.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/metaverse-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mobile-app-categories-with-metaverse-name.png" alt="Top Mobile App Categories With Metaverse in App Names or Description Tag" width="768" border="0" height="668.31036983321" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mobile-app-categories-with-metaverse-name-1536x1337.png 1379w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mobile-app-categories-with-metaverse-name-1024x891.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mobile-app-categories-with-metaverse-name.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mobile-app-categories-with-metaverse-name-300x261.png 300w" sizes="auto"></a>
38. “Crypto” was the most popular term among mobile apps associated with “metaverse.”
As of February 2022, 552 apps using the term “metaverse” also included other popular names in their description. Of these, 144 used the word “crypto,” 118 used “NFTs,” 73 used “AR,” and 55 used “VR.”
39. 55% of Americans were unaware of “Horizon Workrooms,” a VR workspace project by Meta.
In 2022, only 8% of Americans were very aware of “Horizon Workrooms,” while 20% did not have enough information about the project.
40. In Q4 2021, Zepeto amassed 13.13 million downloads.
This was a 32.5% increase from 9.9 million downloads quarter-on-quarter in Q4 2020.
41. By 2028, the Augmented, Virtual, and Mixed Reality markets are expected to reach $250 billion.
In comparison, the market was worth $29.26 billion in 2022.
42. In 2025, the global shipment of XR headsets will rise to 105 million.
There were 7 million shipments of the same hardware types in 2020, showing an expected surge in demand till 2025.
Conclusion
Our statistics reveal that the metaverse is beaming with many opportunities with great potential for businesses and individuals alike. That is why several gaming and tech companies are investing in it to position themselves as leaders within this emerging ecosystem.
But to better understand the players shaping this space, dive into our Facebook Statistics, Augmented Reality Trends Roundup, and Virtual Reality Statistics.
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/1280565/global-market-cap-metaverse-facebook-gaming/
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