The quantum market is growing rapidly, and several trends point to ongoing development, such as investor interest, growth in key verticals, innovation, and commercial customers. For example, while governments anchor the quantum communication market today, future growth will likely come from commercial players such as telecommunications and financial services, say McKinsey’s Charlie Lewis, Henning Soller, Sebastian Schneider, and coauthors. McKinsey research shows that the overall quantum communication market is projected to reach between $11 billion and $15 billion by 2035.
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A stacked area chart shows the projected growth and changing customer composition of the quantum communications market from 2023 to 2035. Total market size is estimated to grow to $1.3 billion–$1.6 billion in 2025, from $0.9 billion–$1.0 billion in 2023, $3.5 billion–$4.6 billion in 2030, and $11.0 billion–$15.0 billion in 2035. Government customers, including defense, represent the largest share throughout the period but is expected to decline from about 64% in 2023 to 27–31% in 2035. Academia is projected to decline to 16–20%, from ~28%. Telecom providers, public cloud providers, and cybersecurity companies may increase to 16–26% in 2035, from about 2–6% in 2023. Financial services may also expand to 14–24%, from ~1–5% over the same period. Healthcare and other industries should remain smaller segments, reaching 6–10% and 3–7%, respectively, by 2035.
Note: This image description was completed with the assistance of Writer, a gen AI tool.
Source: Expert interviews; press search; McKinsey analysis.
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To read the article, see “Quantum is almost here: Are you and your systems ready?,” April 24, 2026.