(BOSTON, MA) – The global market for outsourced language services and technology will surpass US$37.19 billion in 2014, according to a study by independent market research firm Common Sense Advisory. In its 10th annual global industry research report, “The Language Services Market: 2014,” the firm details the findings of its comprehensive study.

CSA Research, which has published market size estimates and global rankings for the past nine years, found that the demand for language services continues, and is growing at an annual rate of 6.23%. As part of the study, the firm surveyed language service providers from every continent to collect actual reported revenue for 2012, 2013, and expected revenue for 2014. It found that although the market continues to expand—the current growth rate of 6.23% represents an increase over last year’s rate of 5.13%—it is less than 12.17% CAGR in 2012.

“Language service providers in most regions of the world reported steady growth during calendar year 2013,” explained Don DePalma, Common Sense Advisory’s founder and Chief Strategy Officer. “However, we contend that the era of double-digit growth in language services is over, due to several factors, including exchange rates, global competition, and an increase in the use of translation technology. The good news is that the market continues to grow, just not as much as it once did.”

Included in the report are the largest language services providers globally, as well as by region. The five highest-ranked companies on the list of the largest 100 language services companies, listed according to 2013 revenues, are: Lionbridge Technologies (US), Hewlett-Packard’s Application and Content Globalization group (FR), TransPerfect (US), LanguageLine (US), and SDL (UK). Two of these are publicly traded companies—Lionbridge (LIOX on NASDAQ) and SDL (SDL.L on the London Stock Exchange). The Hewlett-Packard group is a division of Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ on the New York Stock Exchange). 

Additional tables and charts within the report include:

• Current market size estimates for the language services industry along with a detailed description of the research methodology
• Projected growth rates for the industry through 2018, including region-specific breakdowns
• Rankings of the largest 100 global industry leaders
• Critical benchmarks for LSP financial performance, including average revenue per employee, average revenue per salesperson, and average revenue per project manager, including differences by company size and geography
• Regional rankings of the largest translation and interpreting companies in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Oceania, North America, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, and Western Europe
• Reporting on the fastest-growing services in the industry, such as translation, website globalization, software localization, and on-site interpreting
• Breakdown of the market revealing market size estimates for on-site interpreting, translation technology, machine translation post-editing, video interpreting, mobile and game localization, and other services

Adds Vijayalaxmi Hegde, Director of Research Operations at Common Sense Advisory and report analyst, “The market for outsourced language services and supporting technology is immensely important to the organizations and individuals that produce or consume information. We predict that the industry will continue to grow and that the market will increase to US$47 billion by 2018.”

The list of the 100 largest language services providers based on revenue for 2013 is available here. The full report is available as part of the firm’s research membership. 

About Common Sense Advisory

Common Sense Advisory is an independent market research company helping companies profitably grow their international businesses and gain access to new markets and new customers. Its focus is on assisting its clients to operationalize, benchmark, optimize, and innovate industry best practices in translation, localization, interpreting, globalization, and internationalization. For more information, visit: http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com or www.twitter.com/CSA_Research.

Tweet: Global market for language services and technology will surpass US$37.19 billion in 2014 ow.ly/ytO7l via @CSA_Research

Media contact: Melissa C. Gillespie, melissa@commonsenseadvisory.com, +1 760-522-4362