PwC Report: Blockchain technologies could boost the global economy USD 1.76 trillion by 2030

Blockchain technologies are expected to be adopted at scale across the global economy by 2025 and have the potential to boost global gross domestic product (GDP) by USD 1.76 trillion over the next decade, according to PwC’s Report ”Time for trust: The trillion-dollar reason to rethink blockchain”.

”The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on society as a whole has accelerated the adoption of technologies, which until now were only found in the long-term plans of organizations, such as the blockchain. Blockchain technology has long been associated with cryptocurrencies, but its use is much wider, from the way companies reconfigure their operations and supply chains, to the way public institutions secure, share and use data to increase trust, transparency and efficiency”, said Gabriel Voicilă, Technology Partner, PwC Romania.

The potential for blockchain to be considered as part of organisations’ future strategy is linked to research by PwC with business leaders that showed almost two thirds of CEOs (61%) said they were placing digital transformation of core business operations and processes among their top three priorities, as they rebuild from COVID-19.

At a sector level, the biggest beneficiaries look set to be the public administration, education and healthcare sectors. Meanwhile, there will be broader benefits for business services, communications and media, while wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers and construction services, will benefit from using blockchain to engage consumers and meet demand for provenance and traceability.

In terms of individual countries, blockchain could have the highest potential net benefit in China (USD 40 billion) and the USA (USD 407 billion). Five other countries - Germany, Japan, the UK, India, and France – are also estimated to have net benefits over USD 50 billion.

The report identifies five key application areas of blockchain and assesses their potential to generate economic value using economic analysis and industry research:

• Tracking and tracing of products and services - or provenance - which emerged as a new priority for many companies’ supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic, has the largest economic potential (USD 962 billion).
• Payments and financial services, including use of digital currencies, or supporting financial inclusion through cross border and remittance payments (USD 433 billion).
• Identity management (USD 224 billion) including personal IDs, professional credentials and certificates to help curb fraud and identity theft.
• Application of blockchain in contracts and dispute resolution (USD 73 billion), and customer engagement (USD 54 billion) including blockchain’s use in loyalty programmes further extends blockchain’s potential into a much wider range of public and private industry sectors.

This study provides a scenario of the impact blockchain technology could have on the global economy by 2030 if uptake and the quality of products and services available develop as expected.   Further information on the methodology can be found in the report.

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