How will blockchain impact the global economy?

An analysis by PwC shows blockchain technology has the potential to boost global gross domestic product (GDP) by $1.76 trillion over the next decade. That is the key finding of a report assessing how the technology is being currently used and exploring the impact blockchain could have on the global economy.

Through analysis of the top five uses of blockchain, ranked by their potential to generate economic value, the report gauges the technology’s potential to create value across industry, from healthcare, government and public services, to manufacturing, finance, logistics and retail.

“Blockchain technology has long been associated with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, but there is so much more that it has to offer, particularly in how public and private organizations secure, share and use data,” comments Steve Davies, Global Leader, Blockchain and Partner, PwC UK.

“As organizations grapple with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, many disruptive trends have been accelerated. The analysis shows the potential for blockchain to support organizations in how they rebuild and reconfigure their operations underpinned by improvements in trust, transparency and efficiency across organizations and society.”

Key takeaways

• The report identifies five key application areas of blockchain and assesses their potential to generate economic value using economic analysis and industry research. The analysis suggests a tipping point in 2025 as blockchain technologies are expected to be adopted at scale across the global economy.
• Tracking and tracing of products and services – or provenance – which emerged as a new priority for many companies’ supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic, has the largest economic potential ($962bn). Blockchain’s application can be wide ranging and support companies ranging from heavy industries, including mining through to fashion labels, responding to the rise in public and investor scrutiny around sustainable and ethical sourcing.
• Payments and financial services, including use of digital currencies, or supporting financial inclusion through cross border and remittance payments ($433bn).
• Identity management ($224bn) including personal IDs, professional credentials and certificates to help curb fraud and identity theft.
• Application of blockchain in contracts and dispute resolution ($73bn), and customer engagement ($54bn) including blockchain’s use in loyalty programmes further extends blockchain’s potential into a much wider range of public and private industry sectors.

Blockchain’s success will depend on a supportive policy environment, a business ecosystem that is ready to exploit the new opportunities that technology opens, and a suitable industry mix.

Economic benefits across continents

Across all continents, Asia will likely see the most economic benefits from blockchain technology. In terms of individual countries, blockchain could have the highest potential net benefit in China ($440bn) and the USA ($407bn). Five other countries – Germany, Japan, the UK, India, and France – are also estimated to have net benefits over $50bn.

The benefits for each country differ however, with manufacturing focused economies such as China and Germany benefiting more from provenance and traceability, while the US would benefit most from its application in securitisation and payments as well as identity and credentials.

At a sector level, the biggest beneficiaries look set to be the public administration, education and healthcare sectors. These sectors are expected to benefit approximately $574bn by 2030, by capitalising on the efficiencies blockchain will bring to the world of identity and credentials.

Meanwhile, there will be broader benefits for business services, communications and media, while wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers and construction services, will benefit from using blockchain to engage consumers and meet demand for provenance and traceability.

Digital transformation as top priority

The potential for blockchain to be considered as part of organizations’ future strategy is linked to a research with business leaders that showed 61% of CEOs said they were placing digital transformation of core business operations and processes among their top three priorities, as they rebuild from COVID-19.

“One of the biggest mistakes organizations can make with implementing emerging technologies is to leave it in the realm of the enthusiast in the team. It needs C-Suite support to work, identify the strategic opportunity and value, and to facilitate the right level of collaboration within an industry,” comments Davies.

“Given the scale of economic disruption organizations are dealing with currently, establishing proof of concept uses which can be extended and scaled if successful, will enable businesses to identify the value, while building trust and transparency in the solution to deliver on blockchain’s potential.”

The report warns that if blockchain’s economic impact potential is to be realized, its energy overhead must be managed. Growing business and government action on climate change, including commitments to Net Zero transformation, will mean that organizations need to consider new models for consolidating and sharing infrastructure resources to reduce reliance on traditional data centres and their overall technology related energy consumption.