Interest and demand for the global digital legacy industry saw a significant increase due to the impact of Covid-19, rising from $6.3 billion in 2017 to its current market size of $19.7 billion in 2023, digital legacy firm Inalife said Friday.
Inalife said in a report conducted by Custom Market Insights that the industry could expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.3 percent, reaching $60.7 billion by 2032.
This growth is due to increased awareness and demand for digital legacy services, integration with financial services, estate planning offerings, emphasis on data security and privacy and the rise of tech-savvy generations driving the need for personalized and efficient digital legacy management solutions.
“The digital legacy market was always expanding, but Covid-19 accelerated that growth rapidly as consumers suddenly became aware of the importance of preserving their legacies and also that of their loved ones,” said Nicholas Worley, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Inalife.
“The opportunities in the space are increasing for multiple industries including financial services as digital natives are looking for innovative solutions to help them not only preserve their content and legacies, but also their estates in the future,” he added.
According to the statement, the digital legacy market is made up of services and solutions focused on managing an individual’s digital assets, online presence, and digital footprints after their passing.
It involves planning, securing access to online accounts, and preserving digital data for inheritance or personal wishes.
The findings from the report showed that the growth in the digital legacy market was due to a number of key factors such as growing awareness and education of the sector, an increasing digital footprint for individuals, legal and regulatory developments, innovative service offerings for a tech savvy generation, global market expansion and integration with estate planning services.
Despite the positive growth of the market, the report noted that there remain multiple challenges to the market which could impact its growth and profitability in the future.
These include data privacy and security risks, legal and regulatory challenges, lack of awareness and adoption to a wider audience and rapid technological changes into the future.
In terms of regions, North America has a strong emphasis on data privacy and security due to stringent regulation and the integration of digital legacy management with estate planning services is gaining traction for individuals and businesses.
Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific is seeing increased awareness about digital legacy planning due to the growing tech adoption among younger generations which is driving demand for innovative services, as well as solutions that accommodate diverse cultural preferences and multilingual interfaces.
Europe is also seeing demand from a tech-savvy population but data privacy and compliance with general data protection regulation (GDPR) are crucial considerations, while collaborations with legal and financial institutions for estate planning integration are becoming prominent incorporating legal compliance and personalized digital asset management.
Finally in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa (LAMEA), while the market is still developing, the focus is on raising awareness of digital legacy planning, memorialization across diverse cultures/languages and preserving cultural heritage.
Inalife is a global digital family legacy company where users around the world are able to connect with their family, share memories in a secure format and send time delayed messages to each other at a future date.