Additive manufacturing “is entering a new phase of maturation defined by performance and return on capital rather than prototype velocity.” So says the consulting firm Wohlers Associates, which has been tracking the AM sector for more than three decades.
In the 31st edition of its annual Wohlers Report, published in February, the group says the industry “is moving from system expansion to production discipline, where throughput, repeatability, and measurable outcomes matter most.”
It estimates in the 195-page report that global additive manufacturing revenues reached $24.2 billion in 2025, up 10.9 percent year over year. That included $4.9 billion in material sales.
In an email interview, Dr. Mahdi Jamshid, director of market intelligence at Wohlers Associates, offered additional insights.
“The fastest-growing segment of the AM material market was polymer filaments in 2025, at 18.5 percent over 2024 revenues. This was a significant boost from the paltry 4.7 percent growth the year prior, perhaps driven by the continued surge of low-cost desktop material extrusion (MEX) systems,” Jamshid said.
He added that metals, including both powder and wire, also grew significantly at 15.3 percent year-over-year. These categories grew at a significantly faster pace than photopolymers (9.4 percent), polymer powder (8.7 percent), and other materials (6.7 percent).
“When considering revenue generation from specific polymers in industry, PA12 (nylon 12) is consistently at the top,” Jamshid noted. “This is followed by photopolymer resins and ABS. We did notice an increase in PLA (polylactic acid) and PET/PETG usage, even by service providers. These materials are dominant when looking at quantities consumed, due to consumer goods, print farms, and at-home use.”
The report––which tracks more than 3,000 companies worldwide––also noted “accelerating trends in consumer product manufacturing.” Jamshid elaborated on that, noting growth in eyewear, footwear, sports equipment, and even furniture. He offered the following examples:
* Toys: Print farms full of low-cost 3D printers are making toys and accessories. In April 2025, Boise, Idaho-based Slant 3D raised $1.5 million in a Series A round to expand its printing service for other businesses. In September, The LEGO Group revealed its first large-scale 3D-printed production part, a functional train included in a seasonal holiday set. It produced the parts using the Powder Bed Fusion-Laser Beam/Polymer (PBF-LB/P) process, which met the company’s exceptionally tight dimensional tolerances.
* Golf clubs: In January 2025, Cobra Golf Inc. of Carlsbad, Calif., released a new line of 3D-printed golf irons featuring an internal tungsten lattice structure to control the center of gravity. It makes the clubs using PBF-LB/M in stainless steel, and has transitioned the product from a limited edition offering to a standard catalog item.
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* Footwear: In January, German startup Zellerfeld Shoe Co. Inc. launched an AI-driven platform offering custom 3D-printed shoes sized based on a phone scan of a customer’s feet. The shoes
––made of fully recyclable materials––retail for $150 and are part of a growing trend in local, custom footwear production. Adidas also began selling a fully 3D printed shoe in May 2025, manufactured using a polyurethane material via the vat photopolymerization (VPP) process. VPP uses light-activated, liquid photopolymer resins—such as polyurethanes—to create solid, durable, and often flexible, three-dimensional objects.
Wohlers Report 2026 also vastly expanded its coverage of the fast-growing Chinese market. It dedicates 10 pages to China’s AM market, including assessing the country’s national AM strategy, its resurgence in producing desktop 3D printers, its growth in metal AM “mega-factories,” and the rise of regional AM clusters.
China’s strong interest in this technology is reflected in its AM-related financial activity. Wohlers reports that China now accounts for more than half of all global AM investment deals.
“Western companies are confronting China’s technological and supply chain parity, and in some areas, superiority, in AM,” Jamshid noted. “This realization will force a strategic pivot toward defensible positions that include highly regulated applications, national security domains, and specialized offerings where some Western firms maintain advantages.
“We expect increased partnerships aimed at protecting margins and market share. Meanwhile, China’s expansion will continue aggressively in Europe, though U.S. penetration will remain constrained by national security concerns and tariffs. Internally, Chinese manufacturers will face intensifying competition among themselves.”
West Conshohocken, Pa.-based ASTM International acquired Wohlers Associates in November 2021 and noted that this latest edition of the report reflects ASTM’s full stewardship of the report for the first time. ASTM said it developed this latest study with input from more than 55 AM specialists operating across 12 time zones.
Learn more about Wohlers Report 2026 at https://wohlersassociates.com
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