Alternative Data Market (2026 - 2036)

Alternative Data Market Forecast and Outlook By FMI

In 2025, the alternative data market was valued at USD 4.6 billion. Based on Future Market Insights' analysis, demand for alternative data is estimated to grow to USD 5.2 billion in 2026 and USD 22.9 billion by 2036. FMI projects a CAGR of 16.0% during the forecast period.

Absolute dollar growth of USD 17.7 billion over the decade signals a fundamental shift in how institutional investors, corporate strategists, and government agencies source intelligence. The sustained growth trajectory reflects the migration of alternative data from an experimental supplemental input to a core analytical layer in investment workflows, driven by the structural transition from discretionary portfolio management toward quantitative and systematic strategies.

Summary of Alternative Data Market

• Alternative Data Market Definition
  • Alternative data refers to commercially licensed datasets derived from non-traditional sources, including web scraping, transaction records, geolocation signals, satellite imagery, and app usage logs, used to generate insights beyond conventional financial data.
• Demand Drivers in the Market
  • Systematic institutionalization of quantitative investment strategies requires continuously updated, machine-readable data feeds.
  • ESG regulatory mandates in Europe and Asia Pacific compel asset managers to validate claims using independent third-party data.
  • Expansion of use cases into corporate strategy and government intelligence diversifies the buyer base beyond finance.
• Key Segments Analyzed in the FMI Report
  • Data Type: Web-Scraped Data leads with approximately 29% share in 2026.
  • End Use Industry: Investment and Trading Firms account for approximately 41% of revenues in 2026.
  • Geography: North America represents the largest regional market; Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing.
• Analyst Opinion at FMI
  • Rahul Pandita, Principal Consultant for Technology at Future Market Insights, opines, "In the updated version of the Alternative Data Market Report for 2026 to 2036, CXOs will find insights into how privacy-centric data collaboration is replacing open-market scraping. Besides this, my findings point at the critical role of AI in resolving entity mapping across fragmented datasets, which will distinguish winning platforms from legacy aggregators."
• Strategic Implications/Executive Takeaways
  • Investment managers must integrate systematic alternative data to avoid information disadvantage relative to quant competitors.
  • Corporate strategy teams should prioritize web-scraped pricing and foot traffic data for competitive intelligence.
  • Vendors must establish regional partnerships in high-growth markets like India and China to capture local demand.
• Methodology
  • Market size estimates are revenue-based, constructed using a bottom-up segment aggregation approach.
  • Forecasts incorporate segment-specific growth rates derived from demand driver analysis.
  • Validated against top-down vendor revenue data and buyer budget trend data.

As Richard Lai, Global Head of Alternative Data at Bloomberg, noted regarding the industry's evolution toward accessibility, “Our goal has always been to make alternative data accessible, scalable, and easy to adopt across a broad range of research workflows." [1] These shifts underscore how deeply embedded alternative datasets have become in modern investment infrastructure.

India (19.5% CAGR) and China (18.5% CAGR) represent the fastest-growing markets, driven by the expansion of formal capital markets and the demand for credit analytics serving underbanked populations. Brazil (15.0% CAGR) follows, supported by financial market sophistication and agricultural commodity trading. Mature markets like the United States (13.0% CAGR), the United Kingdom (12.5% CAGR), and Germany (12.0% CAGR) generate demand primarily through the institutionalization of quantitative strategies and ESG compliance, though growth is structurally constrained by increasing regulatory scrutiny and market saturation.

Alternative Data Market Definition

Alternative data refers to information derived from non-traditional sources that sits outside the standard financial data ecosystem that is, outside earnings reports, regulatory filings, macroeconomic indicators, and exchange-generated price and volume data. It encompasses any dataset that provides incremental informational advantage for investment decision-making, credit risk assessment, corporate competitive intelligence, or government policy analysis.

Alternative Data Market Inclusions

The report includes a comprehensive analysis of global and regional market sizes, forecast periods, and segment breakdowns by data type (web-scraped, transaction, geolocation, satellite, app usage) and end-use industry. It covers commercial licensing revenues for web-scraped datasets, transaction data products, geolocation and mobile device data, satellite imagery, and app usage analytics. The scope also includes revenues from data delivery infrastructure, normalization services, and value-added analytics bundled within commercial licenses.

Alternative Data Market Exclusions

The scope excludes traditional financial data revenues, internal proprietary data assets, and primary survey and market research revenues. It also omits raw satellite launch infrastructure revenues, retail banking transaction processing revenues, and consulting revenues earned by firms that use alternative data but do not commercially license the underlying datasets. Publicly available government datasets and general-purpose cloud infrastructure revenues are also excluded.

Alternative Data Market Research Methodology

• Primary Research: Interviews were conducted with buy-side investment professionals, data procurement officers at institutional asset managers, alternative data vendor executives, quantitative analysts, and compliance officers responsible for data governance. Participants included key decision-makers to validate market sizing assumptions and identify demand drivers.
• Desk Research: A systematic review of vendor annual reports, regulatory guidance from the SEC, FCA, ESMA, and SEBI, and academic literature on systematic investing was performed. Industry association publications from AIMA and CAIA were also analyzed to contextualize market trends.
• Market-Sizing and Forecasting: A bottom-up sizing methodology aggregated vendor-level revenue estimates across data type categories and end-use verticals, reconciled against top-down vendor revenue aggregations. The forecast model applies segment-specific growth rates derived from demand driver analysis and regulatory adoption curves.
• Data Validation and Update Cycle: All quantitative estimates were subject to a multi-stage validation protocol involving cross-referencing between primary interview findings, secondary revenue disclosures, and proprietary analytics benchmarks. Segment shares were validated against buyer-side data procurement survey data.

Segmental Analysis

Alternative Data Market Analysis by Data Type

Based on FMI's Alternative Data Market report, consumption of Web-Scraped Data is estimated to hold 29% share in 2026. This segment dominates due to the structural proliferation of e-commerce, which provides a continuously expanding substrate for data collection. For investment managers, these signals serve as critical leading indicators of consumer demand trends and competitive pricing behavior that manifest in financial results weeks later.

• Digital Commerce Expansion: The commercial value of web-scraped retail data is directly coupled to the expansion of digital commerce; for example, S&P Global's acquisition of With Intelligence in October 2025 significantly expanded its private markets data coverage to include granular fundraising and investor relationship signals [2].
• Job Posting Intelligence: Web-scraped job posting data has emerged as a high-value corporate intelligence signal; FactSet's strategic partnership with Arcesium in December 2025 integrates front and middle-office workflows, enabling seamless ingestion of employment and alternative datasets for risk analysis [3].
• Regulatory Complexity: The technical sophistication required to maintain high-quality scraping infrastructure favors established vendors; Bloomberg's integration of Similarweb's digital intelligence data in June 2025 validates the market's shift toward fully compliant, verified web traffic feeds over raw scraping [4].

Alternative Data Market Analysis by End Use Industry

Investment and Trading Firms are estimated to account for approximately 41% of total Alternative Data Market revenues in 2026. This dominance is driven by the institutionalization of quantitative and systematic investment strategies that require high-frequency, machine-readable alternative data inputs for signal generation, risk management, and ESG compliance.

• Risk Management Integration: Firms are embedding alternative data into risk infrastructure; FactSet’s partnership with Arcesium enables buy-side firms to combine public and private data for unified risk exposure analysis [3].
• Systematic Strategy Growth: The expansion of AUM in quantitative strategies creates direct demand; Bloomberg’s integration of Similarweb data provides systematic funds with near real-time digital performance indicators for thousands of public companies [4].
• Private Market Transparency: Demand is expanding into private credit and equity; S&P Global’s acquisition of With Intelligence addresses the need for opaque market data, providing institutional investors with previously inaccessible fundraising and allocation signals.

Alternative Data Market Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities

Future Market Insights analysis observes that the Alternative Data Market is in the early stages of a structural maturation phase, transitioning from a fragmented, provider-led market characterized by bespoke licensing arrangements toward a standardized, institutionalized procurement environment. Historically, the market was driven by discretionary alpha generation; however, the current valuation reflects the convergence of systematic investment mandates and regulatory compliance requirements. This shift anchors the market's growth in a more stable, non-discretionary demand base.

The core tension in the market lies in the shift from experimental adoption to core infrastructure integration. Demand for raw, unstructured data is declining in favor of normalized, machine-readable feeds that can be directly ingested into quantitative models. As traditional financial data sources become commoditized, the premium for unique, high-frequency signals like web-scraped pricing and geolocation data is rising. However, vendors face pressure to demonstrate legal defensibility and data provenance, creating a bifurcation where compliant, high-quality providers gain share at the expense of "grey market" scrapers.

• Green De-commoditization: ESG regulatory mandates create a structural demand floor for alternative data that is distinct from discretionary alpha generation. Under frameworks like SFDR, asset managers must validate ESG claims using independent data, converting satellite imagery and supply chain tracking from optional inputs to compliance-mandated procurement categories.
• Regulatory Baseline Mandates: Data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA impose compliance costs and data residency requirements, increasing vendor operating complexity. While this creates barriers to entry, it also drives demand for compliant data products, pushing buyers toward established vendors with robust governance frameworks.
• Export-Driven Upgrading: The expansion of alternative data use cases into non-financial verticals represents a structural opportunity. In emerging markets, the translation of capabilities into domestic applications-such as credit scoring in India and agricultural monitoring in Brazil-creates new local demand vectors beyond the traditional investment management buyer base.

Regional Analysis

Based on the regional analysis, the Alternative Data Market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, East Asia, South Asia, Oceania and Middle East & Africa across 40+ countries. The full report also offers market attractiveness analysis based on regional trends.

Source: Future Market Insights (FMI) analysis, based on proprietary forecasting model and primary research

North America Alternative Data Market Analysis

North America dominates the global alternative data market, with the United States functioning as the primary hub for institutional procurement. USA hedge funds and quantitative trading firms drive high-volume demand for web-scraped and transaction data to feed systematic strategies.

• United States: Demand for alternative data in the United States is projected to rise at 13.0% CAGR through 2036. This growth is driven by the mature adoption of quantitative investment strategies and the expansion into corporate intelligence use cases. For instance, the SEC's increasing scrutiny on alternative data usage has prompted firms to invest heavily in compliant data sourcing. Additionally, major financial data vendors like Bloomberg continue to acquire specialized alternative data providers, such as the integration of Similarweb's traffic data in June 2025, to embed these capabilities into core terminal workflows [4].

FMI's analysis of the alternative data market in North America consists of country-wise assessment that includes the United States and Canada. Readers can find detailed analysis of regulatory impacts and vendor consolidation trends.

Asia Pacific Alternative Data Market Analysis

Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing regional market, characterized by the rapid digitization of consumer economies and the deepening of capital markets. The region's growth is fueled by the massive scale of behavioral data generated in China and the demand for credit analytics in India.

• India: Demand for alternative data in India is projected to rise at 19.5% CAGR through 2036. Growth is driven by the expansion of formal capital markets and the urgent need for alternative credit scoring models to serve the large underbanked population. Fintech companies are leveraging mobile device data and transaction signals to assess creditworthiness where traditional bureau data is sparse.
• China: Demand for alternative data in China is projected to rise at 18.5% CAGR through 2036. The market is propelled by the sheer volume of data generated by its digital commerce and mobile payment ecosystems. Domestic quantitative funds are rapidly adopting structured alternative data feeds to gain an edge in the highly retail-driven equity market, while corporate strategists use e-commerce analytics to track real-time consumer trends.

The full report analyzes the alternative data market across East and South Asia from 2021-2036, covering pricing, trends, and growth drivers in China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. The assessment highlights trends that dictate regional platform adoption and data localization requirements.

Latin America Alternative Data Market Analysis

Latin America's market is anchored by Brazil, where financial market sophistication and agricultural commodity trading create dual demand vectors. The region is seeing increasing use of satellite data for crop monitoring and transaction data for economic tracking.

• Brazil: Demand for alternative data in Brazil is projected to rise at 15.0% CAGR through 2036. The country's robust agricultural sector drives demand for satellite and geospatial data to monitor crop yields and optimize logistics for soy, corn, and sugarcane. Concurrently, the sophisticated financial services sector is adopting alternative transaction data to track consumer spending and inform macro-trading strategies.

The report consists of a detailed analysis for the market in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Rest of Latin America. Readers can find detailed information about several factors, such as the pricing analysis and regional trends, which are impacting growth in the Latin America region.

Europe Alternative Data Market Analysis

Europe is the second-largest regional market, heavily influenced by its regulatory leadership in sustainable finance. The region's demand is uniquely shaped by ESG mandates that require independent, verifiable data for compliance and reporting.

• United Kingdom: Demand for alternative data in the United Kingdom is projected to rise at 12.5% CAGR through 2036. London's status as a premier global financial hub drives consistent demand from hedge funds and asset managers for diverse alternative datasets. The FCA's proactive stance on data regulation encourages the adoption of compliant, high-quality data sources, pushing firms toward established vendors.
• Germany: Demand for alternative data in Germany is projected to rise at 12.0% CAGR through 2036. The market is distinguished by its strong industrial base, where corporate strategy teams utilize alternative data for supply chain monitoring and competitive intelligence. Germany's strict adherence to data privacy laws like GDPR also drives innovation in anonymized data products and privacy-preserving analytics technologies.

FMI’s analysis of the alternative data market in Europe consists of country-wise assessment that includes the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Readers can know various regulations and latest trends in the regional market.

Competitive Aligners for Market Players

The alternative data market is characterized by a heterogeneous competitive structure spanning large financial data conglomerates, specialized pure-play vendors, and niche providers. The market is moderately concentrated at the top, with incumbents leveraging established distribution channels, while the long tail of specialized vendors competes on data exclusivity and coverage breadth. The primary competitive variable is the ability to provide legally defensible, high-frequency data that integrates seamlessly into institutional workflows.

Large incumbents like Bloomberg and S&P Global have structural advantages due to their ability to bundle alternative data with core financial products, reducing procurement friction for buyers. Pure-play vendors like YipitData and Similarweb differentiate through deep specialization in specific data types. These firms invest heavily in proprietary collection infrastructure to maintain data uniqueness.

Buyer behavior is increasingly sophisticated, with institutional investors conducting rigorous due diligence on data provenance and compliance. This shifts pricing power toward vendors with robust governance frameworks and transparent methodologies. Large customers are managing supplier dependency by diversifying data sources and demanding flexible delivery mechanisms, such as APIs and cloud-native feeds.

Recent Developments

• In October 2025, S&P Global agreed to acquire With Intelligence for $1.8 billion to expand its data coverage across private equity, hedge funds, and private credit markets [2].
• In June 2025, Bloomberg announced the integration of Similarweb's web traffic data directly into the Bloomberg Terminal, enabling investors to access near real-time digital performance insights alongside traditional financial data [4].
• In December 2025, FactSet and Arcesium debuted a strategic partnership to unite front, middle, and back-office workflows, delivering a unified platform that integrates public and private asset data [3].

Key Players in Alternative Data Market

• Bloomberg
• Refinitiv (LSEG)
• S&P Global
• FactSet
• Similarweb
• YipitData
• Earnest Analytics
• Thinknum
• Advan Research
• Quandl (Nasdaq Data Link)

Scope of the Report

Alternative Data Market Analysis by Segments

Data Type

• Web-Scraped Data
• Transaction Data
• Geolocation Data
• Satellite/Geospatial Data
• App Usage Data
• Alternative Web Traffic Data
• Others

End Use Industry

• Investment & Trading Firms
• Corporate Strategy & Intelligence
• Consulting & Research
• Government & Defense
• Others

Region

• Asia Pacific
  • India
  • China
  • Japan
  • South Korea
  • Australia
  • Rest of Asia Pacific
• Europe
  • Germany
  • United Kingdom
  • France
  • Switzerland
  • Netherlands
  • Rest of Europe
• North America
  • United States
  • Canada
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Colombia
  • Rest of Latin America
• Middle East & Africa
  • Rest of Middle East & Africa

Bibliography

• [1] Bloomberg. (2025). Bloomberg Takes Home Best Alternative Data Provider at WatersTechnology's Inside Market Data & Inside Reference Data Awards 2025. Bloomberg Professional Services.
• [2] S&P Global. (2025). S&P Global Agrees to Acquire With Intelligence from Motive Partners for $1.8 Billion. Investor Relations.
• [3] FactSet. (2025). FactSet and Arcesium Debut Tech To Unite Front, Middle, and Back Office Workflows. Investor Relations.
• [4] Bloomberg. (2025). Bloomberg Expands Alternative Data Offering with Web Traffic Data from Similarweb. BigDATAwire.

This bibliography is provided for reader reference and is not exhaustive. The full report contains the complete reference list and detailed citations.

This Report Addresses

• Market intelligence to enable structured strategic decision making across investment and corporate segments.
• Market size estimation and 10-year revenue forecasts from 2026 to 2036, supported by validated capacity and trade benchmarks.
• Growth opportunity mapping across web-scraped, transaction, and satellite data types.
• Segment and regional revenue forecasts covering investment firms, corporate strategy, and government sectors.
• Competition strategy assessment including data exclusivity, compliance capability, and delivery infrastructure.
• Product capability tracking including normalization services, API access, and bundled analytics.
• Regulatory impact analysis covering ESG mandates, data privacy laws, and web scraping litigation.
• Market report delivery in PDF, Excel, PPT, and interactive dashboard formats.