Global Security Services

Global Security Services

Global security service revenues are projected to increase 3.8% per year to $311 billion in 2028. Growth will be fueled by economic advances and expansion of the urban population worldwide, with the strongest growth occurring in lower- and middle-income industrializing countries. In higher-income countries, revenue growth will be supported by the increasing demand for value-added services requiring specialized skills.

Technology-Driven Segments to Post Fastest Growth

The growing use of electronic security systems to supplement manned security represents a key driver of revenue gains going forward. In addition to greater use of video surveillance and other electronic security systems, guards are increasingly interfacing with analytically driven systems to optimize their coverage and response times. Modern commercial buildings commonly integrate electronic security systems with building automation systems, adding high levels of complexity. Due to this, systems integration services are expected to post the fastest gains, with alarm monitoring services also achieving strong growth amid greater use of video monitoring.

AI Shaping the Future of Security

The rapidly advancing capabilities of AI technology have come to the forefront of the security industry in 2023 and 2024. This technology represents a massive opportunity for the industry, both as a tool for security service operators and as a source of new security threats.

Security service operators were already emphasizing surveillance as a tool to generate intelligence, and AI technology is accelerating the importance of this function. Security service providers offering visual surveillance services – as a supplement to guarding, as a form of remote monitoring, or as a component of a broader building automation system – are increasingly advertising the use of AI technology to transform the information generated by visual surveillance into actionable intelligence. In addition to directly boosting the effectiveness of security – such as by speeding threat detection to accelerate response times – these tools can be marketed as offering potential to enhance the effectiveness of a wide variety of commercial operations.

In addition, AI technology is recognized as a source of emerging security threats. For example, tools like deepfakes represent new weapons that hostile actors can employ in causing security breaches.

Security Providers Becoming Security Partners

With the ongoing growth in the complexity of security systems, leading firms are increasingly marketing themselves not simply as providers of site security, but as partners proactively guiding their clients through an ever-evolving landscape of security threats. Security service providers are expected to design and implement security protocols, integrate electronic security systems with building automation systems, provide value-added intelligence, and educate clients on emerging security threats. As a result, security consulting represents both an important growth area and a key offering driving clients to invest in ongoing guarding and monitoring services.

Study Description

This Freedonia industry study analyzes the $259 billion global security services industry. It presents historical revenue data (2013, 2018, and 2023) and forecasts (2028 and 2033) by service type (guard, alarm monitoring, cash-in-transit and related services, security systems integration, other security services) and market (commercial and industrial, government and institutional, residential), and region (North America, Central and South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia/Pacific, Africa/Mideast. Historical market volatility is also addressed. In addition, annual historical and forecast data are provided from 2020 to 2027. Data are provided in US dollar terms. The study also evaluates company market share and competitive analysis on industry competitors including ADT, Allied Universal, Brink’s, Prosegur, and Securitas AB."