Instrument Business Outlook (IBO) has issued its annual forecast for 2026, assessing current market conditions across scientific sectors and instrument types, and making predictions for the coming year.
We thank IBO for its insightful forecast, published on 15th January in Volume 34: Issue 19 and for granting us permission to report on these findings. This blog summarises expectations for 2026, supported by data from Strategic Directions International (SDi). IBO and SDi are part of Science and Medicine Group, a leading research and advisory firm serving the life science, analytical instrument, diagnostic, healthcare, radiology and dental industries.
2025 recap
The analytical instrumentation industry went into 2025 with uncertainty due to geo-political and economic factors, and although it was expected to level out throughout the year, this proved not to be the case. In IBO’s mid-year forecast, the demand for instrumentation was predicted to increase low single digits whereas final estimates for the year now lie even lower at just over 1%.
Many markets, including biopharma, biotech, academia and government labs, stalled in 2025. However, industrial and applied markets did perform as expected and, in some cases, exceeded predicted performance.
Geographically, US and Chinese markets were negatively impacted by the incoming Trump Administration but in contrast, some of the best performing regions in terms of instrument demand growth were Europe and India.
Forecast and expectations for 2026
For 2026, uncertainty and cautiousness remain high, therefore, IBO predicts a modest overall forecast of low single digit growth. External factors such as falling inflation rates, easing of capital constraints by central banks and stabilising of the US tariffs will influence the rate of growth throughout the year.
Demand is expected to expand for all ten technology areas within the lab instrument and product markets, with the biggest growth in chromatography, slated at mid-single digits, driven by the pharma industry in research and development (R&D) and quality control (QC) applications. The slowest growth is expected in lab equipment, estimated to be just above flat, with IBO citing long equipment lifespan and reduced levels of lab construction as the main factors.
The above graph shows how the instrument and laboratory product market moved from an extraordinary, pandemic-driven growth spike to a slower, more selective recovery. Revenues climbed sharply from 2020 to 2021 due to COVID testing and vaccine development. Growth rates then fell rapidly from 2022 through 2024 due to decreased demand, biotech funding and academic budgets. By 2025-2026, revenues are forecast to keep increasing toward mid-$80 billion, with growth expected at mid-single digits.
Key geographies driving growth
- IBO predicts India to become one of the fastest growing regional markets and is positioned as a long-term growth engine for life science and industrial applications, fuelled by expanding pharma R&D and manufacturing which will boost demand for analytical instrumentation
- North America will experience low-to-mid single-digit growth helped by reshoring initiatives and industrial CAPEX recovery, with strengths in pharmaceutical manufacturing and energy, batteries and advanced materials, however, academic spending remains constrained
- China’s market is stabilising but still expected to underperform against global averages due to headwinds from tariffs and the BIOSECURE Act but can expect growth in applied testing
- Europe is expecting low-single digit growth but with mixed performance – industrial and energy markets will remain resilient whereas the academic end-market will face pressures from funding reallocations and spending priorities
End-markets showing the strongest momentum
- Pharmaceutical manufacturing is the single biggest growth driver for 2026 but spending will shift from discovery to late-stage development, QC and process analytics
- IBO suggests that demand for batteries and semiconductors will drive growth in the energy and advanced materials end-market, particularly for materials characterisation and spectroscopy instrumentation – with industrial QA/QC generating higher demand than academic research
- One of the fastest growing segments in 2026 will be applied markets (food, environmental, clinical) as it is sheltered from funding volatility and is supported by steady demand for high-throughput instrumentation
- After struggles throughout 2025, biotech and CROs are predicted to grow driven by renewed CAPEX confidence and a focus on projects closer to entering the market or on existing products
Technology landscape
- Pharma-led recovery is driving mid-to-high single-digit growth in the chromatography and mass spectrometry (MS) markets, with high-resolution MS and QC-focused liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) systems outperforming others
- The molecular and atomic spectroscopy market is predicted to remain stable, with industrially driven growth and energy, environmental testing and applied QA/QC offsetting weaker academic demand
- Sample preparation will return to growth as labs prioritise automation, higher throughput and consumables-heavy workflows tied to pharma and applied markets
- IBO suggests that materials characterisation will be one of the healthiest segments, powered by batteries, semiconductors and energy materials
- Laboratory automation can expect modest growth overall, boosted by biotech, pharma discovery and SaaS-based informatics regaining momentum
- Laboratory equipment could see solid mid-single-digit growth, increasingly driven by bioproduction, cell & gene therapy and manufacturing-adjacent applications rather than academia
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