Market Overview

Size of the weather business market was estimated at 45,300 million yen for FY2022, up by 6.8% from the preceding fiscal year (based on the sales of licensed forecasting services, excluding national institutions, local authorities, and broadcasting companies.)
In addition to the increase in the number of licensed forecasting services and the growing awareness for disasters (disaster prevention, disaster mitigation, risk avoidance, risk management, etc.), the need to use weather data for demand forecasting is gaining traction among businesses looking to expand their operations and/or reduce loss of business opportunities. Against this backdrop, the number of companies adopting weather services is increasing, and the weather business market is expanding moderately.

Noteworthy Topics

Utilization of Weather Data for Business Expansion & New Business Model Development

Combined with various data and analyzed at a high level, weather data is used for business decision making, business process improvement, and productivity enhancement. While the mainstay of the purpose of use had been disaster prevention/mitigation, crisis management, and risk avoidance until recently, application of weather information and weather data is expanding to a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, retail, agriculture, and leisure travel. Demand forecasting based on weather data is expected to increase business stream, reduce opportunity loss, add value to existing products and services, and lead to building a new business model.

For example, the use of demand forecast based on weather data for production management may lead to a reduction of manufacturing waste at manufacturers. In retail, it is possible to increase sales with the development of a sales plan based on the weather information. In agriculture, crop yield may be increased by optimizing cultivation management on the basis of weather data. In the leisure travel sector, tourist venues may offer discounts on entrance fee or other charges based on a demand forecast using weather data in order to increase of visitors and sales.

Future Outlook

The market size of weather business is projected to attain 48,430 million yen in FY2023, a rise by 6.9% from the previous fiscal year, and rise further by 7.0% to 51,840 million yen in FY2024.
In the face of severe and frequent natural disasters, companies and public authorities are increasingly aware of disaster preparedness, i.e., working on disaster prevention/mitigation, risk avoidance, and preparing countermeasures. Going forward, as companies and industries become more aware of the usefulness of weather data for demand forecasting, the demand for weather services will grow hereafter. Therefore, the weather services market is expected to grow steadily.

Research Outline