Virtual reality sounds like something straight out of a science fiction movie, but believe it or not, it’s becoming a part of life in 2023. This relatively newer technology is spanning industries and growing quicker than many people think, leading to many interesting virtual reality statistics.
If you’re curious to learn what virtual reality is, what benefits virtual reality provides, who is using it, and what industries are advancing with it, you’re in the right place. We’ll dive into how popular virtual reality is, its demographics, and the economy behind it.
Scroll on to learn 50 virtual reality statistics.
Top virtual reality statistics in 2023
- In 2022, VR users grew to over 171 million users
- Over 10.8 million VR devices are sold in 2022 (23.8 million by 2025)
- Global market size isexpected to hit $252 billion (10x growth from 2021, 28 billion)
- 23 million jobs will rely on VR
- Consumer spending on AR/VR is expected to reach $72 billion by 2024
How many people use VR regularly?
1. An estimated 64 million Americans used virtual reality in 2022
(Statista)
According to experts’ predictions, there are 32.7 million people experiencing VR within the United States. Of these, 31.3 million are doing so via virtual reality headsets. This adds up to approximately 64 million Americans who used VR in 2022.
2. 101.6 million people in the U.S. Americans use augmented reality
(Statista)
Augmented reality is closely related to virtual reality. And, more people have been using it thanks to AR’s easier gate of entry. Approximately 101.6 million use augmented reality today in America. In 2020, 83.7 million people used AR at least once per month in the U.S.
3. Almost one-third of VR users use virtual reality at least monthly
(AR Insider)
Approximately 31% of virtual reality users report using VR at least monthly—and they’re happy about it. Over half (55%) of VR users are highly satisfied with the tech reporting extreme or moderate satisfaction.
4. The total number of active virtual reality users in 2022 is well over 171 million
(Statista)
How many VR users worldwide are there? In 2018, there were 171 million VR users worldwide, with about 16 million of them identifying as “hardcore” gamers. Knowing that VR adoption has increased year-over-year, we can assume that VR users worldwide may exceed 200 million. That’s because major VR hardware development companies are shipping millions of VR devices annually.
5. By 2025, the worldwide AR/VR gamer user base will increase to 216 million users
(Global Newswire)
When deciphering virtual reality user statistics, experts follow spending trends and user behaviors to predict future figures. In just three years, one market research firm calculates that the user base for AR/VR in the gaming market will reach 216 million worldwide by 2025. The VR global gaming market is expected to continue growing at a CAGR of 32.75% from 2021 to 2026.
6. 43% of consumers who used VR in the past month own their own VR headset
(GWI)
Of course, it’s easier to use VR when you have your own device. However, a study shows that many consumers share their VR devices. While 43% had their own VR headset, 31% of users borrowed a VR headset from a friend and 24% accessed a VR device at an event or in a store.
How popular is VR?
7. 19% of consumers have used virtual reality before
(AR Insider)
A survey revealed that almost 20% of consumers had tried virtual reality by 2020. That figure was up from 16% the previous year.
8. Predictions show that 5.9 million Americans will adopt VR by next year
(Statista)
This year in 2022, there are approximately 64 million Americans using virtual reality. These predictions forecast that by 2023, this number will grow to 65.9 million people. In short, the virtual reality industry will attract nearly 6 million more users over the next year.
9. 23% of U.S. households own or have used a VR headset
(ARtillery Intelligence)
Nearly one-quarter of homes in the United States have been exposed to virtual reality via headsets. Regardless, there are adults who are not interested in virtual reality. This percentage rests at about 18%.
10. 90% of consumers are aware of virtual reality while just 65% are aware of augmented reality
(GWI)
More people know about virtual reality than augmented reality. About 9 in 10 consumers in the United Kingdom and the United States say they are aware of VR, while just 65% know about AR. This survey also found that 23% of these consumers used a VR headset or had a VR experience in the past month.
11. Virtual reality headset sales are growing 31.9% year-over-year
(IDC)
Augmented reality (AR) headsets are facing a short-term decline of 8.7% nearing the end of 2022. However, virtual reality (VR) headsets are on the rise with sales growing steadily by 32% year over year according to 2022 Q2 data. Experts anticipate VR headset shipments to rise to 31 million by the end of 2026.
12. Half of U.S. consumers think the virtual reality metaverse is “exciting”
(PwC)
PwC conducted a survey of over 5,000 consumers and 1,000 executives in the United States. 50% of respondents called the metaverse, an online virtual reality space, exciting. Meanwhile, 66% of business leaders reported that their companies are “actively engaged” in virtual reality and in the metaverse.
13. Almost 11 million virtual reality device shipments will be sent in 2022
(IDC)
A worldwide forecast tracking the hardware behind virtual reality revealed that 10.81 million shipments of VR headsets will be shipped this year. This figure is expected to rise, adding up to 23.8 million shipments of headsets in 2025. By 2026, this trend expects over 31 million to be shipped.
14. Over 80% of manufacturers think VR will become mainstream
(Statista)
Eight in 10 manufacturers know VR is the future. 80% think it is just a matter of time before virtual reality becomes mainstream. How quickly will this happen? They believe in just 3 to 4 years.
How much is the VR industry worth in 2023?
15. The global combined AR/VR/MR market is worth over $28 billion
(Statista)
What’s the virtual reality market size? To determine this, look at the market overall including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR). Last year in 2021, this combined global market reached $27.96 billion.
16. By 2028, the global AR/VR/MR market will explode to over $252 billion
(Statista)
Experts predict this overarching virtual market will explode to over $250 billion U.S. dollars by 2028. This is nearly 10 times the increase when comparing the market size of 2021 (above) to 2028.
17. In 2022, the VR market size is worth an estimated $12 billion U.S. dollars
(Statista)
The VR market size is predicted to nearly double from 2022 to 2025. Worth $12 billion now, the VR market is estimated to grow to more than $22 billion by 2028. Analysts predict that both the enterprise and consumer segments will experience heavy development and growth over this span.
18. The global virtual reality market size will reach $26.8 billion by 2027
(PR Newswire)
An industry forecast report shows that the VR market worldwide is projected to reach $28.6 billion in the next five years. This is up from the $7.7 billion it was worth in 2020. This trend is following an impressive CAGR of 19% from 2021 to 2017.
19. Today, the VR headset market size is worth approximately $8.1 billion
(Statista)
The global VR headset market is growing rapidly. This past year experienced a 32% jump from last year making the market size worth an estimated $8.1 billion. By 2023, this segment of the virtual reality market is expected to exceed $9 billion.
20. The gaming segment of the virtual reality market is worth $1.9 billion
(Statista)
The VR gaming market size is now worth an estimated $1.9 billion U.S. dollars. This revenue of global VR software within the B2C industry is predicted to increase substantially until 2027. In this five-year span, it’s projected to become worth up to $5.45 billion. As of 2022, VR gaming is the biggest segment in the VR software B2C market.
21. In 2020, the gaming industry earned $1.1 billion
(Statista)
Video games have continually been the leading reason to purchase a VR headset, the gateway into virtual reality experiences. The VR gaming industry is steadily growing. After earning $1.1 billion in 2020, this niche gaming industry is projected to double by 2024 by earning over $2.4 billion.
How much are consumers spending on VR in 2023?
22. Global consumer spending on VR/AR will exceed $72.8 billion by 2024
(Business Wire)
In 2020, worldwide spending on augmented and virtual reality was just over $12 billion. By 2024, global consumers are predicted to spend over $60 billion more than that. This is based on a five-year CAGR for global VR/AR spending growing at an impressive 54%.
23. Consumer spending on VR/AR has a growth rate of 34%
(Business Wire)
Globally, both businesses and consumers are investing heavily in virtual reality. Consumer spending is expected to maintain a CAGR of 34.1% over a five-year period. Retail businesses are expected to provide the largest commercial investment into VR, spending $7.3 billion in 2024.
24. Head-mounted display devices account for 60% of the global VR revenue share
(Grand View Research)
When one thinks of virtual reality, a VR headset is often top of mind. That explains why these head-mounted display (HMD) devices made up the majority (60%) of the VR revenue share worldwide in 2021. Another notable VR market share is the gesture-tracking device (GTD) segment. This segment is projected to gain the fastest CAGR growth of 17.4% until 2030.
25. 15% of consumers are likely to buy a VR device in the next 12 months
(Group M)
Last year, 39% of consumers in a survey claimed to already own at least one VR device. Meanwhile, 15% of survey respondents said they are likely to buy a VR device in the next year.
Virtual reality user demographics
26. In a survey, 30% of men had tried a VR headset but only 16% of women had tried one
(Ultraleap)
Almost twice as many men (30%) have tried a virtual reality experience via headset than women (16%). Either way, this represents the small portion of the population considering the majority of Americans in this survey, 76%, have never tried a VR headset.
27. 9% more men have tried virtual reality than women
(ARtillery Intelligence)
A survey was conducted of nearly 98,400 adults in the United States about VR. It concluded that 29% of U.S.-based VR users are male versus 20% are female. This isn’t surprising considering males are typically earlier adopters of technology. When compared to the survey above, these virtual reality statistics are comparable.
28. 45% of VR users are Gen-Z
(ARtillery Intelligence)
How old are VR users in the United States? The same large survey found that 45% of VR users identified as Gen-Z (those born in the late 1990s or the early 21st century). About 38% are Gen-Y, 18% are Gen X, and just 6% are Baby Boomers. In short, adoption goes up as age goes down.
| User Age Group | Percentage (%) of Users |
| Gen Z | 45% |
| Gen Y | 38% |
| Gen X | 18% |
| Baby Boomers | 6% |
29. 37% of VR users have a household income of over $100,000
(ARtillery Intelligence)
What’s the household income of VR users? Over six figures, apparently. In the United States, a reported 37% of VR users bring in over $100,000. Another 32% have a household income of $75k-$100k and 25% make $50k-$75k. However, a significant 17% of VR users in America have a household income under $25,000.
30. Millennials are twice as likely to purchase a VR headset
(Forbes)
Compared to their generational peers, millennials are two times more likely to buy a VR headset. Why? 72% of millennials report that they would rather spend money on experiences than material things. VR “allows you to live a story rather than being a passive observer,” leaning into the wants of this younger demographic.
31. The fastest growing VR market is Asia Pacific, but the largest VR market remains the U.S.
(Mordor Intelligence)
The VR market snapshot from 2020 to 2027 depicts that the fastest-growing market for VR is the Asia Pacific. However, the United States is still the most prominent region for the VR market to date. This is due to the American adoption of innovative technologies. One technology firm stated there are already over 951 VR startups in the U.S.
The benefits of virtual reality
32. Virtual and augmented reality could deliver a £1.4 trillion boost to the global economy by 2030
(PwC)
Financial experts believe that VR and AR collectively have the potential to boost the global economy by trillions in the next decade. The U.S. is expected to see a £484.2 billion boost to its economy by 2030 increasing GDP by 2.83%. The next countries to see the largest GDP increases are China(£165.3 billion) and Japan (£129.1 billion) both around 2% GDP.
33. Over 23 million jobs will depend on VR by 2030
(PwC)
In today’s job market, less than a million jobs are related to virtual reality. However, by 2030, this number will multiply 23 times. These jobs are most likely to affect the world’s large economies like China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
34. 65% of consumers want to explore new places virtually
(PwC)
What do consumers want to do the most in virtual reality? 65% report that they want to visit someplace new virtually. Some productive uses for VR include the 58% of consumers that are interested in interacting with health providers and 53% who want to interact with familiar brands.
35. 52% of consumers want to attend virtual courses and training
(PwC)
Over half of consumers are interested in learning through virtual reality, another clear benefit to this technology. Almost half, 49%, would explore job opportunities and 46% would use VR to interact with work colleagues.
36. VR learners were 4x faster to train than in-classroom learners
(PwC)
A huge benefit of virtual reality is the impressive performance it provides as a training tool for employees. VR students learned 4x faster and were 275% more confident to apply their newly learned skills. They were also 3.75x more emotionally connected to the learning content resulting in 4x more focus than standard eLearning peers.
37. Cause-based VR films inspire twice as many donations as normal films
(Forbes)
Virtual reality is even benefitting global causes. One film commissioned by the United Nations highlighting Syrian refugees inspired one in six viewers to donate money to the cause. That’s twice the normal donation rate.
38. Virtual reality experiences attract 15% more responses than direct marketing
(Forbes)
According to Forbes, the normal response rate to direct marketing averages less than 1%. Virtual reality experiences garner over 15% more responses.
39. VR within the engineering industry can decrease model design time by 10%
(Enterprise Apps Today)
Virtual reality is streamlining processes and improving efficiencies across industries. In the engineering sector, the growth and use of VR have decreased model time by 10% and construction time by 7%.
40. The highest hopes (64%) for the potential of virtual reality are in gaming
(GWI)
What is the consumer perception of virtual reality’s potential? Gaming takes the lead with 64% of consumers being most excited about this segment. Other consumers had high potential hopes for Film and TV (52%), Sports Viewing (42%), Classroom Education (41%), and Social Media (38%).
41. Healthcare is the VR segment with the highest projected CAGR of 19.3% from 2022-2030
(Grand View Research)
Another notable benefit of VR is within the healthcare segment as companies are using VR for disease awareness, medical learning, and surgical training. Virtual surgeries, emergency training, and VR anatomies are also in high demand. The CAGR of the healthcare-related VR segment is almost 20% for the forecast period 2022 to 2030.
How are companies using VR in 2023?
42. 75% of the world’s top brands have virtual reality projects underway
(Hypergrid Business)
Three-quarters (75%) of Forbes’ Most Valuable Brands (like Apple, Google, or Microsoft) have created virtual or augmented reality experiences for their customers or employees. That could be due to the fact that 30% of Americans online aged over 18 express a desire to try VR technology.
43. 46% of companies are hiring people with skills related to the metaverse
(PwC)
Four out of ten (41%) companies are investing in metaverse-related technology. But more importantly, nearly half of them are hiring people with the skills needed to capitalize on the metaverse and its opportunities. Another 39% are investing in upskilling their current employees to gain the metaverse skills needed for the future.
44. 82% of executives expect metaverse plans to be part of their business activity within 3 years
(PwC)
Two-thirds of businesses have moved past virtual reality experimentation and are ready to implement their efforts. In 2022, executives aren’t treating virtual reality as a side project anymore. Over 67% are actively engaged in the metaverse for business and 20% are looking into it.
45. The investment in VR was expected to multiply 21x over the past 4 years
(Iberdrola)
Forecasts from IDC Research predicted that investment into VR and AR would multiply 21-fold over the past four years. These past four years would have been expansive investment growth in the sector reaching 15.5 billion Euros in 2022. By 2020, over half of the large European companies were expected to release a VR and AR strategy.
46. The number of virtual reality startups has by grown over 14%
(Enterprise Apps Today)
Virtual reality is on the rise and startups are propelling this. The number of VR-related startups has increased 14 times within just a year. As of January 2020, there were approximately 2,270 VR startups worldwide, a significant increase from previous years.
47. In 2022, there are over 950 VR startups in the United States
(Enterprise Apps Today)
As of this year, the U.S. is home to over 950 startups related to VR—and that number is growing. Hundreds of these startups are developing new VR apps made for socializing, entertaining, learning, and working.
48. 59% of company executives think investments made toward VR will be directed toward gaming
(Global Newswire)
Virtual reality is becoming increasingly popular, which means the job demand for the industry is also on the rise. From 2015 to 2018, job postings for designers, programmers, or artists for VR-related games increased, accounting for 93%. This is no surprise considering 59% of company executives worldwide believe that gaming will dominate any investment made toward VR technology.
49. 5% of the top 1,000 Twitch channels streamed VR games at least once
(Streams Charts)
Twitch is one of the world’s top streaming platforms and a few of its top channels are shared virtual reality content. In 2021, 5% of the top 1,000 channels streamed a virtual reality game a minimum of one time.
50. There is a virtual reality theme park in China featuring over 40 VR rides
(Grand View Research)
In 2018, China opened one of the world’s first VR-centric theme parks. VR Star Theme Park has over 40 virtual reality rides and is a direct cause for the increased popularity of VR entertainment in the region. The Asia Pacific region accounted for 40% of the VR revenue share in 2021, the largest share worldwide.
Conclusion
As you can see, virtual reality is rapidly growing. Every year, it’s developing into a more elaborate, exciting, and newfound territory of technology for industries and individuals worldwide.
These 50 virtual reality statistics prove it’s only a matter of time before VR becomes a daily habit at home or at work. In a few more years, it may even take over more aspects of our lives.
What is your opinion on virtual reality? Is it something you are currently using or wish to do in the future? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
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