Value of the global sharing economy 2021 and 2023, with 2027 and 2031 forecast

Sharing economy services have exploded in popularity over recent years, with many expecting this trend to continue. The total value of the global sharing economy has been predicted to increase to 794 billion U.S. dollars by 2031, up from 150 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. This has translated to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 32 percent. The sharing economyThe sharing economy is where assets owned by members of a network can be temporarily accessed by other members of the network, generally through an online platform. This differs from traditional businesses, whereby goods and services are owned by a single owner and then rented to the public. Because of this difference, sharing economy companies often escape industry regulations. The two most common examples of the sharing economy are the sharing of private vehicles via ride-hailing apps such as Uber, and the various other sharing economy businesses – predominantly Airbnb, that has left its mark globally. Coworking, where workers from different organizations can access shared office space, is also considered part of the sharing economy.RegulationThe growth predicted above assumes that the sharing economy retains its position outside of industry regulations – something that is not certain. For example, opinions of Canadians on how the government should regulate Uber have been that they should be regulated in the same way as taxis, which would raise licensing and staffing costs. This would of course increase the cost to the consumer. What has kept customers however, are the top benefits consumers recognize from using sharing economy services, such as it generally being cheaper for users.

近年来，共享经济服务在流行程度上实现了爆炸性增长，许多人预期这一趋势将持续下去。据预测，到2031年，全球共享经济总价值将达到7940亿美元，较2023年的1500亿美元增长近五倍，复合年增长率（CAGR）约为32%。共享经济，是指网络成员拥有的资产可以临时供其他网络成员使用的一种经济模式，通常通过在线平台实现。这与传统商业模式形成鲜明对比，在传统商业模式中，商品和服务由单一所有者拥有，然后出租给公众。正因为这种差异，共享经济公司常常规避行业监管。共享经济的两个最常见例子是通过如Uber这样的打车应用共享私人车辆，以及各种其他共享经济业务，其中以在全球范围内留下深刻印记的Airbnb为主。共同办公，即不同组织的工人可以访问共享办公空间，也被视为共享经济的一部分。监管上述预测的增长假设共享经济仍处于行业监管之外的地位——这一点尚无定论。例如，加拿大人对政府应如何监管Uber的看法是，他们应该像出租车一样受到监管，这将提高许可和人员成本。这无疑会提高消费者的成本。然而，保持顾客忠诚度的原因是消费者在使用共享经济服务时认识到的主要优势，例如通常对用户来说更为经济实惠。