Global manufacturing activity supported continued growth in the additive manufacturing sector during the first quarter of 2026, with the worldwide 3D printing market reaching $4.35 billion, according to new quarterly data released by Additive Manufacturing Research (AM Research).
The research firm’s latest Q1 2026 3DP/AM Market Data and Forecast and Q1 2026 Market Insights reports found the total additive manufacturing market, comprising metal, polymer and ceramic 3D printers, materials and services, grew 13.1 per cent year-on-year.
Sequentially, the market increased from $4.29 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 to $4.35 billion in the first quarter of 2026.
According to AM Research, the metal additive manufacturing market reached $1.76 billion during the quarter, up from $1.52 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier.
The polymer additive manufacturing market totalled $2.59 billion in Q1 2026, compared with $2.33 billion in Q1 2025.
Combined additive manufacturing services generated $2.42 billion in the quarter, increasing from $2.07 billion a year earlier, according to the report.
AM Research said its quarterly market data tracks the global additive manufacturing sector by vendor, printing technology, geography and industry application, with the accompanying Market Insights report providing analysis of the underlying trends.
Scott Dunham, executive vice president at AM Research, said the sector’s growth continued to be supported by changes in global manufacturing supply chains and government investment.
“Q1 2026 mostly continued the growth trend for AM, continuing to ride the train of global supply chain reorganization and government-backed defense and national security initiatives where the traditional means of production may not be able to provide fast enough solutions,” Dunham said.
He added that growth was not uniform across the industry but had maintained momentum established during the second half of 2025.
“Growth is not even across the industry, but it certainly is a growth period, and the first quarter of the year continued on the momentum from the second half of last year,” Dunham said.
AM Research said its tracking covers a broad range of additive manufacturing companies, including 3D Systems, Stratasys, Nano Dimension, EOS, Nikon SLM Solutions, Trumpf, HP, Formlabs, Carbon, Bambu Lab, Creality and other industry participants.
The company said its Core Metals and Core Polymers market data products include historical quarterly data spanning nearly a decade and provide 10-year market forecasts, while the Market Insights report offers additional analysis supported by proprietary charts and graphs.
