Global market data industry revenues surpassed $50bn for the first time in 2025, reaching $50.5bn, according to BCG Expand’s latest Market Data Market Sizing report. Total revenues grew 6.4% in 2025, down from 6.6% in 2024 and 8.3% in 2023, signalling a moderation after several years of stronger expansion.
The slowdown, however, does not point to contraction. Since 2020, the industry has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3%, with total revenues increasing by more than 40% over the five-year period. The report highlights key aspects of how that growth is evolving.
From inflation-driven uplift to C-suite cost scrutiny
According to BCG Expand, part of the recent deceleration reflects a cyclical normalisation. Inflation-driven price increases were a key contributor to growth in 2022 and 2023; as inflation has eased, pricing uplifts have become more modest.
At the same time, market data has moved firmly onto the C-suite agenda at banks and asset managers. Institutions have intensified cost-management programmes, with market data and procurement teams under pressure from business heads to bend the cost curve. Several firms have had tangible success in doing so.
This reinforces a clear theme: while overall revenues continue to rise, vendor pricing power is facing greater scrutiny, and cost optimisation remains a structural priority across the buy side and sell side.
A mature core and a dynamic edge
Terminals remain the largest product category, accounting for 32% of total revenues in 2025. Together with Research & Analytics and Pricing & Reference Data, they represent around 70% of total industry revenues.
BCG Expand characterises much of this core – including terminals, pricing and reference data, exchange data, ratings and indices – as mature and consolidated. Market positions at the top of these segments have shifted little outside of M&A activity.
However, this does not mean the industry as a whole is in a purely mature consolidation phase. The Research & Analytics segment, which has grown at an 11.1% five-year CAGR, remains structurally more fragmented and open to new entrants. While growth in the segment moderated in 2025 in line with the broader market, it continues to be the most dynamic major category.
Unlike terminals or indices, Research & Analytics is less concentrated and offers greater room for specialist providers to scale. Recent years have seen strong growth across themes such as private credit and commodities, alongside continued expansion in ESG-related data. AI is also increasingly embedded within analytics platforms, primarily as a workflow enhancement layer rather than a standalone revenue line.
For trading firms, this is where competitive differentiation is most visible: not in the mature distribution layer, but in specialised analytics, thematic datasets and AI-enabled workflows.
A $50bn industry in transition
At $50.5bn in revenues, the market data industry has reached a symbolic milestone. Yet the headline number masks a bifurcated landscape.
The bulk of revenues sits in mature, consolidated segments with limited structural movement. At the same time, less concentrated areas such as Research & Analytics continue to expand faster than the overall market, driven by thematic growth areas including ESG, private markets and AI-enabled analytics.
The strategic emphasis has shifted toward targeted investment in high-growth niches, disciplined cost management in mature categories, and careful evaluation of where AI and specialised analytics deliver measurable value.
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