MULTILINGUAL INTERPRETATION MARKET SIZE AND SHARE ANALYSIS - GROWTH TRENDS AND FORECASTS (2023 - 2030)

Market Challenges And Opportunities

Global Multilingual Interpretation Market Drivers:

• Increasing globalization and international trade: The growth in globalization and expansion of businesses across borders has led to a greater need for multilingual interpretation services. Companies are expanding their operations in foreign countries and interacting with partners, customers, and other stakeholders who speak different languages. They require accurate interpretation services to ensure seamless communication and avoid miscommunications in crucial conversations. Global trade between countries has also surged significantly. For instance, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the global merchandise trade volume grew by 23% in 2021 supported by strong demand and economic recovery. This has created the need for language services like multilingual interpretation to enable trade transactions and business dealings across borders.
• Rising immigration and movement of people across countries: There has been rising immigration across the globe over the past few decades due to reasons such as better economic opportunities, wars, political turmoil, natural disasters, etc. The influx of immigrants speaking different native languages has necessitated interpretation services in public and private sector organizations of the host countries. Multilingual interpretation has become crucial in settings like hospitals, courtrooms, government offices, and more to facilitate communication for immigrants.
• Regulations mandating language access in public services: Governments across various countries have recognized language barriers as an obstacle to accessing public services. They have implemented regulations and policies around providing interpretation services in healthcare facilities, legal systems, administrative offices, and more. For instance, Title VI of the US Civil Rights Act mandates that federally funded organizations must provide interpretation services to non-English speakers. The EU Council directive requires healthcare staff to offer interpretation services to any EU patient who needs it.
• Technological advancements:

Global Multilingual Interpretation Market Opportunities:

• High potential of emerging economies: Developing countries across Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Africa have a massive underpenetrated market for multilingual interpretation services. These countries are characterized by large diverse immigrant populations, rising medical tourism, growing call center and BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) industry, etc. which necessitates professional language services. Local governments are also strengthening their regulations around patient rights and language access. For instance, in 2020, Thailand introduced stricter policies for the language rights of ethnic groups within its borders. Players operating in interpretation services have ample opportunities to expand in these emerging economies.
• Surging virtual events and remote work culture: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of virtual communication and remote work globally across all industries. There is an exponential rise in virtual meetings, video conferencing, webinars, online events, etc. This has created a huge opportunity for providers of remote simultaneous interpretation services, which facilitate interactions between people in different locations and languages. The work-from-home policies have also increased the demand for over-the-phone interpretation services. Multilingual virtual assistants integrated with AI also have new use cases owing to remote workflows.
• Rising healthcare expenditure and accessibility: Government initiatives are focused on enhancing accessibility and quality of care. This growth in healthcare services globally has led to a surge in non-English speaking patients needing interpretation services for doctor consultations, admin processes, understanding medical procedures, and more. It has created a major opportunity for healthcare interpretation service providers.
• Scope in media, entertainment, and education sectors: The global media, entertainment, and education sectors are thriving rapidly supported by technological advances and rising spending power. There is a huge demand for multilingual content worldwide including films, web series, music, eLearning courses, etc. This has opened multiple opportunities for interpretation service providers to enable dubbing, subtitling, and the localization of content into various languages helping expand global reach. Similarly, the eLearning and digital education segments also rely heavily on language services for translating learning material to serve an international student base.

Global Multilingual Interpretation Market Restraints:

• Shortage of qualified linguists and interpreters: The interpretation market is facing an acute shortage of well-trained, certified, language-skilled professionals. Complex assignments require interpreters with specialized vocabulary knowledge in areas like healthcare, law, etc. which can only come through rigorous training and years of experience. However, educational institutes lag in offering extensive interpreter training programs designed as per industry requirements. This has led to a large demand-supply gap of qualified linguists globally, affecting service capabilities.
• Lack of control over quality of services: The interpretation business relies heavily on a distributed network of independent freelance interpreters who work remotely. Providers struggle to have stringent end-to-end control over the quality of services delivered by freelancers working from home offices/studios. Any issues like unprofessional conduct, inaccuracies, delays, etc. on the freelancer’s end can affect client experiences. This risk is magnified in the case of new freelancers. Lack of quality control has an adverse impact on brand reputation.
• Budget constraints of buyers: While organizations acknowledge the benefits of professional interpretation services, they can be expensive budget-wise, especially for smaller businesses. Onsite services charge hourly fees in addition to assignment fees. SMEs and some public sector organizations with budget limitations find the rates unaffordable for daily requirements. This restricts the adoption of these services only for absolute necessities rather than as an organizational best practice.