The Asia-Pacific region is on its way to reach the milestone of one billion smart electricity meters in 2026, according to IoT analyst firm Berg Insight.

The smart electricity metering market in Asia-Pacific is well on its way to reach the historic milestone of a billion installed devices. The research report from Berg Insight analyses the development of smart metering technology in China, Japan, South Korea, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand.

According to the study, the installed base of smart electricity meters in Asia-Pacific will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2 per cent from 757.7 million units in 2021 to 1.1 billion units in 2027. At this pace, the milestone of one billion installed devices will be reached in 2026.

The penetration rate of smart electricity meters in Asia-Pacific will at the same time grow from 59 per cent in 2021 to 74 per cent in 2027 while cumulative shipments during the forecast period will amount to a total of 934.6 million units.

East Asia, including China, Japan and South Korea, has led the adoption of smart metering technology in Asia-Pacific with ambitious nationwide rollouts and today constitute the most mature smart metering market in the region, accounting for more than 95 per cent of the installed base in Asia-Pacific at the end of 2021.

China has completed its rollout while Japan and South Korea are expected to do so in the next few years. In China and Japan, replacements of first-generation smart meters have already begun and are expected to ramp up significantly in the coming few years.

“Replacements of aging first-generation smart meters will be the most important driver for smart meter shipments in Asia-Pacific in the coming years and will account for as much as 60 per cent of the cumulative shipment volume during 2021 to 2027,” said Levi Ostling, senior analyst at Berg Insight.

While east Asia constitutes the most mature smart metering market in Asia-Pacific, the fastest growing markets are all found in south and south-east Asia with a wave of smart metering projects now sweeping across the region. The most significant growth is expected in India where a massive new governmental funding scheme has recently been introduced with the goal of achieving the installation of 250 million smart prepayment meters by 2026.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, large-scale smart electricity metering installations are also emerging in a similar push to install smart prepayment metering by the government.

“We’re also seeing positive developments in nascent smart metering markets such as Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, which combined constitute a potential market opportunity of around 130 million metering points,” said Ostling.

Along with India, these three markets will be the fastest growing smart metering markets in Asia-Pacific during 2021 to 2027 with annual shipment volumes forecasted to grow at a CAGR in the range of 65 to 80 per cent.