Smart electricity meter market 2024: Global adoption landscape

IoT Analytics has published a new analysis focusing on smart meters.

It is derived from the comprehensive Global Smart Meter Market Tracker. The tracker includes installed base, shipments, and shipment revenues for electricity, gas, and water smart meters. The current analysis underscores the global adoption rate of smart electricity meters in 2024, providing an in-depth regional exploration and market forecast.

Key insights

• By the end of 2023, 1.06 billion smart meters (electricity, water, and gas) had been installed worldwide, according to IoT Analytics’ Global Smart Meter Market Tracker 2020–2030.
• Smart meters enable utility service providers across the world to digitalize their distribution infrastructure and services efficiently with near real-time data.
• North America has the most mature smart electricity meter market, with nearly 77% electricity meter market penetration, while Latin America has largely lagged in adoption. Some European Union countries and the East Asian region also show high penetration rates.
• South Asia, Latin America, and Africa represent high-growth potential markets, as some regional governments are becoming more active in updating aging grid infrastructure and shaping policies to support smart meter adoption.

Key quotes

Knud Lasse Lueth, CEO at IoT Analytics, remarks:

“IoT-based smart electricity meters have become a reality in the world but adoption varies greatly by country and region with countries like Sweden, France, or Canada having completed or nearly completed their roll-outs while others like Germany are yet to start their initiative in a meaningful way. India is likely to see the largest roll-out in the coming years.”

Adarsh Krishnan, Principal Analyst at IoT Analytics, adds:

“Digital transformation is sweeping the utility industry as global service providers’ smart meter deployment, a foundational smart grid technology, exceeds installed base of 1 billion units. While advanced economies embrace feature-rich smart meters, emerging markets focus on more cost-effective solutions for their grid upgrades. Furthermore, future advancements in AI and edge computing will bring greater operational efficiencies and innovative consumer services, creating sustainable and resilient smart grids.”

By the end of 2023, Utility Service Providers (USPs) around the world will have installed over 1.06 billion smart meters for electricity, gas, and water, according to IoT Analytics’ updated Global Smart Meter Market Tracker 2020–2030. As IoT devices, smart meters are enabling energy and water USPs to build resilience into their operations with near real-time data from their distribution networks. With sustainability and the digitalization of utilities gaining traction worldwide, the installed base of these devices is expected to exceed 1.75 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 6%, making the smart meter market one to watch closely.

Smart electricity meter adoption is far ahead of smart gas and smart water meter adoption at this stage, though the picture could change by 2030, with smart gas and water meter adoption expected to grow at 10% and 16% CAGR, respectively.

While the tracker provides in-depth coverage of smart electricity, gas, and water meters across 52 countries and 5 regions—including installed base, shipments, revenue, market penetration, and connectivity technology—IoT Analytics plans to offer highlights for each smart meter submarket separately, starting with smart electricity meters.

Global smart electricity meter market snapshot

As of late 2023, the smart electricity meter market had achieved 43% penetration of the overall global electricity meter market, according to the market tracker.

Electricity grid modernization initiatives started in the late 2000s in Italy and the US and accelerated into national rollouts throughout the EU and APAC regions after 2010. Regulatory policies—supported by financial incentives from regional or national governments—have contributed to this growth by encouraging utilities to replace mechanical electricity meters with smart meters to modernize their grid infrastructure.

However, not all parts of the world are modernizing their electricity infrastructure at the same pace. According to the tracker, North America, Europe, and East Asia have recorded higher rates of smart electricity meter penetration, but adoption still varies widely by country. Meanwhile, Latin America, Africa, and South Asia have been slower to initiate smart electricity meter projects. Some countries have launched large-scale projects in recent years, though implementation complexity, lack of supportive regulation, and cost hurdles have delayed rollouts in several markets.

Overall, the market for smart electricity meters looks promising, with the Smart Meter Market Tracker forecasting 54% penetration of the overall global electricity meter market by 2030.

Smart electricity meter market and adoption by region

While the Smart Meter Market Tracker shares market data down to the country level, the following are some highlights on the smart electricity meter market at the regional level.

North America leads in smart electricity meter adoption

North America has the most mature smart electricity meter market, with nearly 77% electricity meter market penetration by the end of 2023.

In the US, smart electricity meters reached 76% penetration of the overall electricity meter market in 2023, driven by large-scale deployments from investor-owned utilities. Rollouts are expected to slow down or plateau during the forecast period due to the high penetration rate and long product life cycles. As municipalities with smaller budgets and cooperative-owned utilities replace traditional electricity meters with smart meters, annual shipments in the US should see only marginal growth through the rest of the decade.

The region is also set to receive a further boost in smart meter shipments, as Canadian utilities Fortis and Hydro One announced plans in 2023 to replace their existing AMI with second-generation smart meters.

APAC is the second most mature market, driven by China and Japan

The APAC region has the largest addressable market for smart electricity meters, with more than 1.1 billion electricity metering endpoints. In 2023, APAC accounted for almost 60% of the global smart meter installed base and more than 50% of annual smart meter shipments. The region achieved a penetration rate of 49%, largely driven by successful nationwide rollouts in China and Japan. With planned nationwide deployments in Australia, South Korea, India, Indonesia, and Singapore, APAC’s smart meter penetration is expected to reach 67% by the end of the decade.

India is a particularly notable market. In 2021, the Indian government set an ambitious goal of installing 250 million smart electricity meters by the end of 2025. To support implementation, it launched the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), designed to financially support regional utility deployments and maintenance while also expanding India’s domestic smart meter manufacturing capacity. By the end of 2023, India had achieved less than 3% of this goal, making it unlikely to be met before 2030. Even so, India is on track to become the single largest market for smart electricity meters in terms of annual shipment volume and revenue by 2030.

Europe ranks third, though adoption differs greatly by country

Europe reached 47% smart electricity meter penetration at the end of 2023. France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and the Scandinavian countries launched nationwide rollouts during the last decade, while Greece, Hungary, Poland, and Romania only began their initiatives more recently.

Germany, with more than 50 million electricity metering points, has significantly lagged in adoption, with under 10% of smart electricity meters deployed to date. However, in early 2023, the German government revamped its 2016 Metering Point Operation Act to accelerate deployments, targeting a complete rollout by 2032. The new law sets binding deadlines, including 20% rollout by the end of 2025, 50% by the end of 2028, and 95% by the end of 2030 for residential and small business consumers, with targets extending to 2032 for large consumers. Still, the market remains skeptical about the feasibility of these deadlines due to outstanding questions around financial support, technical specifications, data privacy, and security governance.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE lead in the Middle East and Africa

In the Middle East and Africa region, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are leading the implementation of smart electricity meters. In 2022, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned utility Saudi Electricity Company announced the successful deployment of approximately 11 million smart meters over three years. Meanwhile, the UAE, which already has 1.6 million smart electricity meters installed, is expected to complete its nationwide rollout by the end of 2029.

Latin America lags in smart electricity meter adoption

Latin America has seen the slowest smart electricity meter deployment, largely due to regulatory indecisiveness delaying project rollouts. Uruguay was the first country in the region to mandate a nationwide smart meter rollout, with completion targeted for 2026.

Analyst outlook on the smart electricity meter market

Though regional variations persist—with utilities in North America, Europe, and East Asia operating in more mature markets than their counterparts elsewhere—South Asia, Latin America, and Africa represent high-growth potential for smart meters. Some key considerations for stakeholders include:

• Market saturation and marginal growth in advanced economies: The rollout of more advanced, feature-rich second-generation smart meters is already underway or in advanced planning stages in countries such as Sweden, Italy, Finland, and Canada. This is likely to marginally increase the average selling price of smart electricity meters.
• Cost sensitivity in emerging markets: In regions such as South Asia, Latin America, and Africa, where penetration rates remain lower, governments are increasingly recognizing the need to upgrade aging grid infrastructure and are engaging with industry stakeholders to develop policies and standards that support smart meter adoption. However, these remain cost-sensitive markets, where low-cost smart meters are more likely to succeed.
• Supply chain diversification: Several countries—including Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Brazil, India, and Indonesia—are requiring smart meter OEMs to localize the manufacturing of 40% or more of domestic smart meter demand.
• Regulatory policy uncertainty: Policy indecisiveness creates uncertainty for smart meter stakeholders, constraining innovation and investment and delaying deployments, as seen in countries such as Brazil, India, Mexico, and South Africa.
• Future innovation and market trends: Advances in ICs, edge computing, and AI, including TinyML, may help second-generation smart meters reduce strain on communication networks, improve real-time grid response, build resilience, and strengthen data security and privacy.

Based on the Global Smart Meter Market Tracker 2020–2030, the traditionally conservative utility industry is now emerging as a leader in digital transformation, with more than one billion smart meters already deployed and its digital footprint continuing to expand.

IoT Analytics will continue monitoring this evolving utility and technology landscape. Its next report on energy utilities, expected in Q2 2024, will provide a deep-dive assessment of utilities in 10 countries to identify key smart grid trends, including distribution automation, green energy integration, and EV charging infrastructure.