Photo: Nicolas Pereyra // Unsplash
According to a report by Persistence Market Research, the global market for surfboard manufacturing will nearly double over the next decade. The industry was apparently valued at $3.6 billion in 2022 and by 2033, the end of Persistence’s forecast period, surfboard manufacturing will reach a market value of $6.7 billion and expand at a Compound Anual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.9 percent. For reference, other global industries like casinos and online gambling (5.7 percent), human resources and recruitment services (5.7 percent), architectural services (6.2 percent), and commercial aircraft manufacturing (6.3 percent) are all expected to grow at a similar rate in that 10-year period.
Reports like the one published by Persistence are common research tools made available to investors, with CAGR used as one metric of the strength of a potential investment in that field. And according to the research firm, most of that growth (and money) will come from North America, which will account for almost a third of the entire market (31 percent) in 2023. And even with the proliferation of the internet and the ability to order anything online at any time nowadays, the report points out that “offline retailing” is going to be our preferred sales channel for surfboards. As in, walking into a brick-and-mortar surf shop and grabbing a surfboard off the rack isn’t going away anytime soon.
Filling out an order card and waiting six (errr….15?) weeks for a new custom probably won’t be the biggest driver of growth in the industry. Persistence targeted companies like Global Surf Industries and Channel Islands surfboards as leading manufacturers, alongside Gerflor SAS, Tarkett SA, Forbo, Beachbeat Surfboards, Kiefer USA, Bauwerk Boen Group, EPI Group, Horner Surfboard, Signature Sports, Robbins Sports Surfaces, Aacer Flooring, and Brusurf LLC. Not exactly your small mom-and-pop shapers.
