U.S. Structural Pest Control Market Approaches $9.4 Billion
The professional pest control industry generated an estimated $9.359 billion in total service revenue in 2019, a 4.3 percent increase from the $8.971 billion measured in 2018, according to the latest report “A Strategic Analysis of the U.S. Structural Pest Control Industry” from Specialty Consultants.
Mild summer and winter weather, increased insect pest and rodent pressure, and expanded service offerings for public health pests like mosquitoes, appeared to aid the professional pest control industry this past year, the report said.
A strategic analysis of the U.S. Structural Pest Control Industry found the percentage increase this past year was more than twice the 2019 U.S. GDP increase of 2.1 percent. Recurring revenue accounted for 81.6 percent of the residential pest control service revenue.
It is known that the pest control industry has been somewhat resistant to the impact of economic recessions. During the Great Recession (2008-09), commercial service revenue declined by only 2.2 percent, largely due to pricing pressure from commercial clients. Experiencing a COVID-19 recession presents an unprecedented scenario for the professional pest control industry. An article from PCT states, “No one doubts that professional pest control is an ‘essential service’ and the National Pest Management Association has done a great job of communicating with state and local governments of the need for professional pest control to protect public health.”
Despite the challenges of 2020 so far, a majority of the respondents had a positive outlook for their business in 2019, with about 6 of 10 expecting their residential and commercial business to increase. This year many pest control businesses feel the commercial business could be a great challenge. Pest control operators are among the last to be paid for their ‘essential services’ to restaurants and other commercial businesses. It has appeared that many pest control companies have overcome this issue so far by providing disinfecting and mitigation services for COVID-19 for commercial markets.
The report also found that the U.S. structural pest control industry is comprised of an estimated 19,820 pest control firms.
The 2019 season market report is the 20th edition of A Strategic Analysis of the U.S. Structural Pest Control Industry. A total of 800 owners or managers of pest control companies were surveyed for this study. The market report forecasts pest control service and pesticide product category sales through 2021. The impact of the expanding service offerings like mosquito barrier treatments, industry consolidation, and pest control operators’ outlook for 2019 are just a few of the topics analyzed in this year’s report.