Sparta, NJ—The number of photos captured globally each year is now well into the trillions. The number of smartphones in use and their continued popularity for capturing photos is primarily driving this growth. Furthermore, Rise Above Research estimates that the annual number of photos captured globally will grow to more than 2.3 trillion images by 2028.
“Photography continues to play a significant role in most everyone’s lives, from taking photos during special events to simple everyday moments,” said Ed Lee, director and founder of Rise Above Research. “Both a challenge and an opportunity for the photo industry is helping people unlock the untapped value of these images, including the trillions that are already saved on consumer devices. With the advances in the artificial intelligence (AI) technology and its use cases, we can envision services that incorporate AI that catalog these images and recommend things to do with them or products to make with them.”
2.3 Trillion Images Taken by 2028
What’s more, the taking and sharing of photos with smartphones is showing no signs of slowing down. As a result, the research firm believes the number of photos taken globally will grow at a linear rate from 2024. Rise Above Research also estimates that the number of photos that are saved will reach in excess of 11 trillion images in 2024. And this number will continue to grow as well.
The research firm’s 2024 Worldwide Image Capture Forecast report provides a five-year forecast for the number of photos expected to be take globally. It also includes the shares of photos taken by smartphones, cameras as well as tablets. Further, it reveals the regions of the world that are most photo-active, as well as the cumulative number of photos saved.
Rise Above Research, LLC 
Rise Above Research, LLC, is an independent market intelligence and strategic consulting firm. It supports industry vendors, service providers as well as retailers with actionable intelligence to assist them in making effective decisions in fast-paced digital photography and imaging markets.
Moreover, industry veterans Ed Lee and David Haueter established Rise Above Research in 2020. Consequently, it has extensive experience providing market research and strategic consulting for the digital imaging industry. Its industry analysts have a combined 40+ years of covering a wide variety of imaging markets.
