Alternative Data Market Size and Share Outlook - Forecast Trends and Growth Analysis Report (2025-2034)

The global alternative data market size attained a value of USD 6.31 Billion in 2024. The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 40.20% between 2025 and 2034, reaching a value of USD 185.14 Billion by 2034. The alternative data market is growing rapidly due to several key factors. Investment firms, particularly hedge funds, asset managers, and institutional investors, are increasingly leveraging alternative data to gain insights beyond traditional sources. This data includes geolocation data, social media, and foot traffic, providing a real-time view of market trends. By incorporating sentiment analysis, these players can enhance their credit decision-making processes and improve risk profiling. The use of alternative data enables better forecasting and informed decision-making, especially in financial services, where precision is critical. Moreover, alternative data is driving innovation in investment strategies, helping firms stay ahead of market movements and offering a competitive edge in volatile environments. With its capacity to offer fresh perspectives on consumer behaviour and economic activity, alternative data is now an essential tool for shaping investment decisions and optimising portfolios, making it indispensable for firms focused on maximising returns and minimising risks.

Alternative Data Market Trends

The alternative data market is witnessing significant growth, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies. Companies are leveraging alternative data to derive actionable insights and stay ahead of market trends. The use of machine learning algorithms allows businesses to process vast amounts of unstructured data, providing real-time insights that were previously unavailable. As a result, companies are increasingly utilizing alternative data to make more informed decisions and improve their operational efficiency. These data-driven insights are reshaping industries across finance, retail, and healthcare, giving firms a competitive edge in today's fast-paced environment.

With the increasing emphasis on digital transformation, the role of alternative data continues to evolve. The Internet of Things (IoT) has contributed to the rapid growth of real-time insights by generating large volumes of data from connected devices. Companies are using this alternative data to enhance their analytics capabilities and improve their decision-making processes. By integrating Internet of Things (IoT) data with traditional sources, businesses can better understand market dynamics, consumer behaviour, and operational performance. As digital transformation continues to accelerate, alternative data remains a key enabler, providing organisations with real-time insights to optimise strategies and gain a competitive advantage.

In the wake of growing concerns around sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, alternative data is becoming essential for businesses looking to measure and manage their ESG performance. Satellite data, social media, and other data sources are being used to gauge public sentiment and assess sustainability efforts. By incorporating ESG-focused alternative data, companies can align their strategies with global sustainability goals, address regulatory requirements, and enhance their corporate social responsibility. The growing demand for transparent and actionable ESG insights is a clear trend in the alternative data market, with alternative data emerging as a powerful tool for driving sustainable practices and responsible business decisions.

Data Type Insights

Based on data type, the market is segmented into credit & debit card transactions, email receipts, geo-location (foot traffic) records, mobile data type usage, satellite & weather data, social & sentiment data, web scraped data, web traffic, and other data types. Credit & debit card transactions, a key data type, provide valuable information for financial institutions, lenders, and credit risk assessments. Additionally, email receipts offer retailers detailed insights into consumer purchasing behaviour. Geo-location data, particularly foot traffic records, helps businesses assess the effectiveness of their physical locations, while mobile data usage provides insights into consumer habits. Satellite data & weather data, as well as social data and sentiment data, further expand the scope of alternative data by offering contextual information for various industries. Web scraped data and web traffic are also critical for market analysts in determining online consumer behaviour.

Card transactions, including credit and debit card usage, play a pivotal role in providing valuable consumer behaviour insights. By examining card transaction data, financial services can improve credit scoring methods and enhance credit assessments. Transaction-based alternative data is increasingly being used to refine credit scoring, allowing lenders to evaluate an individual's creditworthiness based on a broader set of data points. This data is particularly useful for alternative credit scoring models, where traditional credit histories are unavailable or insufficient. The inclusion of transaction data helps financial institutions better assess consumers' financial behaviours and predict future risks.

Social & sentiment data is another crucial segment, offering insights into consumer opinions and preferences through social media websites. This data is invaluable for retail industry and e-commerce industries, enabling companies to track sentiment around their products and services. Additionally, smartphone usage provides insights into customer store visits, including retail and e-commerce data, which are essential for shaping operational strategies. Geolocation data, such as foot traffic and customer store visit, plays a major role in retail, helping businesses optimise their store layouts and location strategies. Satellite images offer valuable insights into external factors affecting the industry, like weather patterns, which can influence purchasing decisions and operational strategies. Together, these data types provide a rich source of insights for businesses to refine their offerings and improve customer engagement.

Industry Insights

The alternative data market is witnessing substantial growth across various industries, including BFSI, automotive, energy, and more. In BFSI, alternative data is increasingly used for fraud detection and prevention . By analysing unconventional data sources, financial institutions can enhance their risk management strategies, detect fraudulent activities more efficiently, and safeguard against financial losses. This growing demand for alternative data has made it an indispensable tool for various sectors, ensuring better decision-making processes and greater operational efficiency.

In the BFSI industry, financial institutions are adopting alternative data sources, including geolocation data, mobile device usage, and behavioral analytics, to enhance fraud prevention and improve their operations. These data points allow for real-time insights, helping financial institutions detect and prevent fraudulent transactions while better understanding customer behavior. By incorporating alternative data, BFSI firms gain a competitive edge, providing more personalized and secure services to their clients, ultimately boosting trust and operational efficiency in the financial ecosystem.

The retail sector, especially in e-commerce, is experiencing a transformation due to the integration of alternative data. Retailers are increasingly leveraging alternative data to gain deeper insights into customer behavior, both online and offline. By analysing in-store foot traffic, mobile apps usage, and omnichannel shopping patterns, retailers can better understand how customers interact with their products across different platforms. This data allows them to offer personalized product recommendations, enhance the customer experience, and refine their marketing strategies. Additionally, alternative data enables dynamic pricing strategies, where prices are adjusted in real-time based on factors like demand, competition, and customer behavior. Retailers can also utilize targeted advertising by analyzing customer preferences, which helps to deliver relevant ads to specific consumer segments, improving engagement and conversion rates. With these insights, e-commerce businesses can fine-tune their operations, provide a more personalized shopping experience, and effectively increase sales through better-targeted marketing efforts. In essence, alternative data is a game-changer in driving success in the retail industry.

End Use Insights

In the alternative data market, hedge funds are a significant player, leveraging data to improve investment decision-making. They incorporate a wide array of alternative data sources, including social media sentiment analysis, news articles, and earnings call transcripts. Hedge funds rely on advanced techniques such as natural language processing (NLP) to extract valuable insights from these unstructured data points, which can drive accurate market predictions. The analysis of sentiment from news articles and social media platforms allows these investors to gauge market trends more precisely. By using alternative data, hedge funds can better understand market sentiment, enabling them to outperform traditional investment strategies. Investment institutions also utilize similar methodologies to refine their strategies, relying on alternative data to enhance their risk assessment models.

The retail segment has also increasingly adopted alternative data to drive growth and customer engagement. Retail companies tap into customer insights derived from social media interactions, online reviews, and web traffic analytics to better understand consumer sentiment and purchasing behavior. By utilizing alternative data, retailers can go beyond traditional data sources, improving personalized marketing strategies and developing targeted campaigns. This enables them to adapt more quickly to consumer preferences, optimize inventory management, and enhance overall customer experience. Retailers analyze social media interactions and online reviews to capture real-time feedback, allowing them to make data-driven decisions that align with evolving consumer sentiment and purchasing patterns.

Regional Insights

The North America alternative data market is experiencing significant growth due to increasing reliance on non-traditional data sources to gain business insights. Alternative data, such as information from the gig economy, is becoming more valuable for companies to enhance decision-making. With the rise of freelance work and gig worker availability, businesses can track trends in the labor market more efficiently. The gig economy, where flexible and freelance work is prevalent, provides unique data points that can be leveraged for market analysis. As companies in North America continue to embrace alternative data, its role in understanding economic conditions, workforce dynamics, and consumer behaviour becomes crucial for competitive advantage.

U.S. Alternative Data Market Trends

The United States alternative data market is experiencing significant growth, driven by fintech innovations and an increasing reliance on non-traditional data sources. Fintech companies are increasingly leveraging alternative data to assess creditworthiness, providing a more comprehensive understanding of consumer behavior. This includes using social media behavior and other unconventional data streams to enhance decision-making. As traditional financial data becomes less reliable, these alternative data solutions enable more accurate predictions and risk assessments. The U.S. market is seeing a surge in the use of these alternative data sources, particularly in sectors like lending, investments, and insurance, transforming the financial landscape.

Asia Pacific Alternative Data Market Trends

The Asia Pacific alternative data market is experiencing significant growth, driven by the increasing demand for insights into consumer behavior and market opportunities. Collaborative consumption and sharing economies are gaining traction, enabling businesses to leverage alternative data for improved decision-making. This data is invaluable in understanding trends, consumer preferences, and market dynamics, providing companies with a competitive edge. As businesses in Asia Pacific continue to embrace alternative data, there is an expanding focus on innovative approaches to capture, analyse, and utilise such data. The market is poised for further expansion, with more companies exploring the potential of alternative data to refine their strategies and enhance customer engagement and collaborative consumption.

Key Alternative Data Company Insights

Dataminr, Inc.

Dataminr, based in New York, is a leading provider of real-time AI-driven data analytics. The company specializes in delivering critical insights from public data streams, helping businesses, governments, and financial institutions manage risk, monitor trends, and uncover opportunities across various sectors.

1010data, Inc.

1010data, headquartered in New York, offers advanced analytics and big data solutions. The company empowers organizations to unlock the value of their data with cloud-based platforms, enabling businesses to perform analytics at scale, explore market trends, and drive data-informed decisions across industries.

Advan Research Corporation

Advan Research, based in the United States, specializes in alternative data solutions for financial services. The company provides insights on various industries using proprietary data, helping investors and businesses make informed decisions by leveraging unique data sets, analytics, and research-driven solutions.

M Science LLC

M Science, located in New York, is a leader in data-driven research and analytics, providing actionable insights derived from alternative data. The company serves financial institutions and businesses by delivering custom analytics, market trends, and investment insights to drive strategic decision-making.

Preqin Ltd

Preqin, based in London, is a global leader in alternative data and analytics for the finance industry. Specializing in private capital, hedge funds, and alternative assets, the company provides data, insights, and research tools to help investors make informed decisions across various financial markets.

Key Alternative Data Companies:

The following companies are key players in the alternative data market, collectively occupying the largest market share and driving industry trends.

• Dataminr, Inc.
• 1010data, Inc.
• Advan Research Corporation
• M Science LLC
• Preqin Ltd
• Eagle Alpha Limited
• RavenPack International S.L.U.
• Thinknum Alternative Data
• UBS AG
• Yipit LLC
• Earnest Analytics
• Others

Recent Developments

• In October 2024, The Earnest Analytics Spend Index (EASI) was launched by Earnest Analytics, a data analytics firm that works with corporations, investors, and consulting firms. By tracking expenditure across 89 merchant category codes (MCC) and involving thousands of U.S. businesses, this EASI provides an alternative data-driven evaluation of customer behavior. Credit and debit card transactions from millions of de-identified U.S. consumers provide the near real-time data.
• In September 2024, State Street Global Advisors, State Street Corporation's asset management division, introduced the State Street Global Alternative Beta Fund with the goal of simulating hedge fund results across a wide range of assets. HFR provides the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, or the Index, which is used to manage the State Street Global Alternative Beta Fund. An extensive variety of hedge fund techniques, such as equity hedge, event-driven, macro/commodity trading advisor, and relative value arbitrage, are represented by the Index.
• In August 2024, Bipsync, a provider of software for research and workflow automation, and Preqin, a business that specializes in alternative assets data, tools, and insights, announced a data integration cooperation. Through this partnership, Bipsync customers will have access to the most recent Preqin data on hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, investors, and more. In order to improve decision-making, the alliance will give investors, asset allocators, and fund managers access to top-tier alternative data, which will benefit clients across all asset classes and strategies.
• In May 2024, Bloomberg declared that its exclusive Bloomberg Second Measure (BSM) transaction data analytics feeds were now accessible through Bloomberg Data License for the first time. For further in-depth analysis and early insight into the performance of consumer companies, data professionals and quantitative researchers may now easily integrate this excellent alternative dataset with Bloomberg's more conventional Data License content.

Global Alternative Data Market Report Segmentation

The alternative data market report projects revenue growth at global, regional, and country levels, providing both qualitative and quantitative analysis of market trends for each segment and sub-segment from 2025-2034. For this analysis, the publisher has categorised the global alternative data market by data type, industry, end use, and region.

Data Type Outlook (Revenue, Billion, 2025-2034)

• Credit & Debit Card Transactions
• Email Receipts
• Geo-location (Foot Traffic) Records
• Mobile Application Usage
• Satellite & Weather Data
• Social & Sentiment Data
• Web Scraped Data
• Web Traffic
• Others

Industry Outlook (Revenue, Billion, 2025-2034)

• Automotive
• BFSI
• Energy
• Industrial
• IT and Telecommunication
• Media and Entertainment
• Real Estate and Construction
• Retail
• Transportation and Logistics
• Others

End Use Outlook (Revenue, Billion, 2025-2034)

• Hedge Fund Operators
• Investment Institutions
• Retail Companies
• Others

Region Outlook (Revenue, Billion, 2025-2034)

• North America
• United States of America
• Canada
• Europe
• United Kingdom
• Germany
• France
• Italy
• Others
• Asia Pacific
• China
• Japan
• India
• ASEAN
• Australia
• Others
• Latin America
• Brazil
• Argentina
• Mexico
• Others
• Middle East and Africa
• Saudi Arabia
• United Arab Emirates
• Nigeria
• South Africa
• Others