Translation and Interpretation Services
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 2,700 translation and interpretation service providers in the US translate written material, interpret speech from one language to another, and offer sign language services. Specific services include localization (adapting digital content for a specific market), transcription, subtitling, voiceover/dubbing, and language testing or training.
Dependence on a Highly Skilled Workforce
Translation and interpretation agencies and companies rely on highly skilled workers to provide services.
Industry Growth
Globalization and increasing diversity within the US population has boosted demand for translation and interpretation services.
Industry size & Structure
The average translation and interpretation service provider operates out of a single location, employs fewer than 5 workers, and generates $2 million annually.
- The US translation and interpretation services industry consists of 2,700 firms that employ 43,400 workers and generate about $5.8 billion annually.
- The global language service provider (LSP) industry is estimated to be worth nearly $56 billion, according to the Business Research Company.
- The industry is concentrated at the top; the top 50 companies account for 68% of industry revenue.
- Types of companies include multi-national firms, language technology firms, local agencies and freelance interpreters and translators.
- Large firms include TransPerfect, Lionbridge, and LanguageLine Solutions (Teleperformance).
Industry Forecast
Translation and Interpretation Services Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Mar 25, 2024 - Translation and Interpretation Services
- The translation services industry is expected to experience slower sales growth in 2024 after a softening of demand in 2023 and some solid gains in the years following the onset of the pandemic. The industry’s year-over-year sales fell to -3.4% in 2020 before rising to 17.5% in 2021 and 8.1% in 2022, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. In 2023, sales growth fell to 6.3% and is expected to fall further to 3% in 2024 before rising an average of 5.4% per year between 2025 and 2027, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc.
- Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity was a significant driver of revenue growth for language service providers in 2023, according to the 2024 edition of the Language Service Provider Index (LSPI) by language industry news and data firm Slator. The LSPI includes about 250 language service provider (LSP) firms, categorized by size: Super Agencies (revenue of more than $200 million), Leaders (more than $25 million but less than $200 million), Challengers (between $8 and $25 million), and Boutiques (between $1 and $8 million). The combined revenue for all firms in the 2024 LSPI was nearly $9.8 billion, up 5.6% from 2023, but much of the rise was due to industry consolidation rather than organic growth. In terms of both M&A and organic growth, Leaders posted the biggest gain in 2023 with a revenue increase of 9.9%, followed by Challengers (9.3%), Boutiques (2.4%), and Super Agencies (1.8%).
- At a language industry event in October 2023, RWS Group CEO Ian El-Mokadem gave a keynote speech titled, “Goodbye Translators, Hello Language Specialists,” according to Slator. El-Mokadem suggested that while humans continue to play a role in the localization of content, that role is changing amid the era of machine and artificial intelligence (AI) translation. To follow up on the comments with industry insiders, Slator surveyed its newsletter readers by asking them if they thought the term “translator” would disappear within five years. In results posted in January, 43% of respondents said “absolutely not,” 25% said it has always been five years away, 16.7% said the term will definitely disappear, and 15.1% it could possibly disappear.
- In November, actors reached an agreement with the major Hollywood studios to end a months-long strike that had brought movie and TV production to a standstill. Screenwriters had also been on strike between July and September. Some translation firms that provide media localization services – subtitling and dubbing movies and shows for local markets – saw demand drop when studies halted productions during the strike, according to Slaytor. One firm, Lyuno, continued providing services to Netflix by doing subtitles and dubs for works produced outside US markets, including Germany, South Korea, and Turkey.
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