Did you know that the global photonics market was around €270 billion in 2008?

According to the European Technology Platform “Photonics 21” that represents the European photonics industry, research institutions, and universities, the global photonics market in 2008 was estimated to be around €270 billion, of which Europe took €55 billion. This corresponds to a share of more than 20% of the worldwide production volume in the photonics industry. In Europe more than 5000 companies are involved in photonics, most of them SMEs. The core sectors are lighting, production technology, medical technology, defense photonics and optical components and systems with market shares ranging from 25 to 45 %. Photonics companies themselves employ about 290.000 people in Europe.