Quantum Technology Monitor 2025: McKinsey Highlights Quantum Market Set to Reach $100 Billion by 2035
June 23, 2025 – As the world marks the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology in 2025, celebrating a century since the birth of quantum mechanics, McKinsey & Company has released its fourth annual Quantum Technology Monitor report, revealing significant advancements and expanding investment in quantum technology (QT). The report forecasts that the global quantum market could surge to nearly $100 billion within the next decade, driven by rapid innovation and increased funding across the industry’s core sectors.
Quantum Technology: From Concept to Growing Reality
Quantum technology spans three primary subfields:
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Quantum Computing: A revolutionary computing paradigm leveraging quantum mechanics to drastically improve computational performance for particular problems and explore capabilities beyond classical computing.
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Quantum Communication: The highly secure transmission of quantum information over distances, potentially providing communication security even against powerful quantum computers.
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Quantum Sensing: Advanced sensors based on quantum systems that measure quantities such as electromagnetic fields, gravity, and time with sensitivities orders of magnitude greater than classical sensors.
These pillars collectively have the potential to generate around $97 billion in global revenue by 2035, with quantum computing dominating that market share by growing from an estimated $4 billion in 2024 to as much as $72 billion in 2035. Key sectors anticipated to benefit most include chemicals, life sciences, finance, and mobility.
Milestone Shift from Qubit Growth to Stability
According to McKinsey’s research, 2024 marked a pivotal year in QT development. The focus shifted from merely increasing the number of quantum bits (qubits) to stabilizing the qubits, which is crucial for ensuring reliability and safety. This progression positions QT for integration into mission-critical industry infrastructures, enhancing confidence among potential adopters.
Surge in Investment Reflects Growing Confidence
Investment into QT start-ups accelerated significantly in 2024, with nearly $2 billion poured into emerging firms—a 50% rise from $1.3 billion in 2023. Private funding, primarily from venture capital and private equity, accounted for approximately two-thirds of this total, although public funding grew faster, rising to $680 million or 34% of total investment. This shift underscores increasing governmental urgency to harness quantum’s transformative potential.
Major investments include SoftBank’s partnership with Quantinuum, Saudi Aramco’s stake in Pasqal, Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology collaborating with QuEra and IonQ, and Qatar Investment Authority’s involvement with Alice & Bob. Two mature start-ups, PsiQuantum and Quantinuum, attracted half of the total 2024 start-up investment, highlighting investor confidence in more established players as quantum technologies mature.
Emergence of Innovation Clusters
New QT start-ups are predominantly forming in innovation clusters—ecosystems linking accelerators, academia, research centers, investors, and government support. Notable geographic hubs are emerging in Abu Dhabi, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Illinois, and Maryland. These clusters also include the construction of purpose-built QT manufacturing and computational facilities designed to accelerate development.
Expanding Public Sector Commitment
Public investment in quantum technology extends well beyond start-ups. Governments announced approximately $1.8 billion for QT research, infrastructure, and development in 2024 alone. For instance, Australia committed $620 million toward PsiQuantum’s project to build the world’s first utility-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer in Brisbane, while the State of Illinois announced a $500 million investment in developing a quantum technology park. Singapore invested around $222 million in quantum research and talent development, with Asia spearheading a new wave of quantum start-ups that account for five of 19 new companies launched in 2024. Early 2025 saw even more ambitious government pledges, including Japan’s $7.4 billion dedication to the sector and Spain’s $900 million commitment, pushing global public QT funding announcements beyond $10 billion.
Breakthrough Innovations Indicate Transition to Deployment
For the first time in four years of McKinsey monitoring, quantum technology breakthroughs in 2024 show a clear shift from research toward practical deployment. Innovations have enhanced safety and security aspects of QT, particularly in quantum communication, which is critical for widespread adoption.
Leading technology firms such as Amazon, Google, IBM, and Microsoft have propelled the industry forward, revealing breakthroughs including suppression of error rates relative to qubit counts, development of multiple high-fidelity qubits, and significant cost reductions in quantum error correction processes.
Advances in Quantum Control and Error Correction
Quantum control—the hardware and software governing qubit initialization, gate operations, error correction, and readouts—saw notable progress. Collaborations like Australian start-up Q-CTRL teaming with Nvidia and Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC) addressed critical computational challenges in error suppression.
Key companies such as IBM, Keysight, Kipu Quantum, Quantum Machines, Qedma, and Zurich Instruments also made strides in quantum control technologies.
A major highlight is Google’s Willow quantum chip, which integrates 105 physical qubits and delivers exponentially faster performance than classical supercomputers on certain tasks, all while maintaining a low error rate due to superior error correction capabilities.
Looking Ahead
McKinsey’s analysis projects the QT market to likely double again to nearly $200 billion by 2040 as adoption accelerates across industries and technology matures further. While quantum computing will continue to lead the revenue generation, quantum communication and quantum sensing are expected to grow steadily, creating new business opportunities and enhancing security and measurement capabilities globally.
The ongoing growth in both private investment and public funding, combined with accelerating technological progress, signals that the promise of quantum technology is transitioning from theoretical potential into robust commercial reality.
About the Report
McKinsey’s Quantum Technology Monitor report, first launched in 2021, provides an annual assessment of the quantum technology industry, analyzing quantum computing, communication, and sensing. The report combines public data, expert interviews, and proprietary analysis to track investment trends, technological breakthroughs, and market growth projections. While not exhaustive due to the private nature of some deals, the report offers a comprehensive overview of a rapidly evolving landscape shaping the future of technology.
