Magnetic Refrigeration Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2021-2031

The Global Magnetic Refrigeration Market is projected to expand from USD 192.47 Million in 2025 to USD 878.33 Million by 2031, achieving a CAGR of 28.79%. This solid-state cooling technology leverages the magnetocaloric effect, where specific materials experience temperature shifts under changing magnetic fields, effectively removing the need for traditional gaseous refrigerants and compressors. Key growth drivers include strict international environmental mandates to eliminate high-global warming potential hydrofluorocarbons and the urgent industrial necessity to lower operational energy costs. Data from the International Institute of Refrigeration indicates that in 2025, the refrigeration sector was responsible for roughly 20% of global electricity usage, highlighting the critical need for energy-efficient solutions such as magnetic cooling.

However, market growth is significantly hampered by high production costs and supply chain limitations regarding magnetocaloric materials. These systems often depend on rare-earth metals like gadolinium, which are subject to complex extraction processes and price volatility, creating substantial barriers to cost-effective mass production and competitive pricing compared to entrenched vapor-compression technologies. Consequently, the challenges associated with sourcing these materials continue to impede the technology's ability to compete effectively against established cooling methods in the broader market.

Market Drivers

Strict international regulations designed to phase out high-Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants act as the primary catalyst for the magnetic refrigeration market. As nations enforce binding limits on hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) production, industries are forced to transition from standard vapor-compression systems to solid-state alternatives using magnetocaloric materials. Highlighting this regulatory pressure, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's October 2024 'Notice of 2025 Allowance Allocations' strictly capped regulated hydrofluorocarbon consumption in the United States at approximately 181.5 million metric tons of exchange value equivalent for the 2025 calendar year. This tightening creates an urgent commercial imperative for magnetic refrigeration technologies, which operate without volatile gaseous refrigerants, thereby future-proofing HVAC and cold chain operations against quota reductions and compliance risks.

The accelerating global demand for energy-efficient cooling further propels the adoption of magnetic refrigeration systems, which offer superior thermodynamic efficiency compared to traditional compressors. This shift is vital as the rapid growth of cooling infrastructure threatens to overburden electrical grids in both advanced and developing economies. According to the International Energy Agency's 'World Energy Outlook 2024' released in October 2024, residential air conditioning alone is expected to demand an additional 700 terawatt-hours of electricity globally by 2035. To counter this surge, governments and corporations are actively pursuing sustainable technologies; for instance, the United Nations Environment Programme noted in November 2024 that 71 countries have joined the Global Cooling Pledge to cut cooling-related emissions by 68% globally by 2050, creating a significant market opportunity for low-energy magnetic cooling innovations.

Market Challenges

The substantial reliance on rare-earth metals like gadolinium for magnetocaloric materials presents a formidable economic barrier for the Global Magnetic Refrigeration Market. These critical raw materials are required to generate the magnetic fields essential for the cooling cycle, yet their supply chain is plagued by geopolitical risks and extraction complexities. Because these metals are difficult to refine and are sourced from restricted geographical regions, manufacturers encounter unpredictable input costs that make magnetic refrigeration units significantly more expensive than established vapor-compression systems. This cost disparity discourages widespread adoption in price-sensitive commercial and residential sectors.

This supply chain vulnerability is further emphasized by the high concentration of processing capabilities in a single region, which limits alternative sourcing options. As reported by the Global Wind Energy Council in 2025, China controlled over 80% of global rare earth processing and refining capabilities. This monopolistic market structure restricts the ability of magnetic refrigeration manufacturers to negotiate favorable pricing or secure consistent material flows. Consequently, the inability to achieve economies of scale due to these upstream material constraints prevents the technology from attaining the competitive pricing necessary for mass market penetration.

Market Trends

A major trend in the magnetic refrigeration market is the commercial scaling of retail display cabinets, moving the technology from laboratory prototypes to functional supermarket pilots. Manufacturers are increasingly focusing on vertical multideck cabinets and beverage coolers to demonstrate the reliability and quiet operation of magnetocaloric systems in customer-facing environments. This transition involves developing large-capacity units designed to replace conventional compressor-based systems in grocery chains, directly addressing the sector's need for sustainable cold storage. For example, MagnoTherm Solutions announced in a November 2024 press release titled 'Magnetic Cooling Market-Ready' the commercial launch of the ECLIPSE 2D, a magnetic refrigeration cabinet with a substantial capacity of 1,110 liters, marking a pivotal step toward mass adoption in the food retail sector.

Simultaneously, the application of additive manufacturing for heat exchangers is revolutionizing the production of active magnetic regenerators (AMRs) to optimize thermal performance. By employing binder jetting and other 3D printing techniques, engineers can now fabricate magnetocaloric materials with complex, high-surface-area geometries that were previously impossible to cast, significantly enhancing fluid dynamics and heat transfer rates. This manufacturing innovation is critical for maximizing the thermodynamic cycle's efficiency while reducing material waste. As highlighted in an October 2024 3DPrint.com article, '3D Printed Materials Enable MAGNOTHERM's Next Gen Magnetic Cooling Tech', recent demonstrations of 3D-printed lanthanum-iron-silicon regenerators have enabled magnetic cooling systems to achieve energy consumption reductions of up to 30% compared to traditional gas-compression alternatives.

Key Players Profiled in the Magnetic Refrigeration Market

• Camfridge Ltd.
• Whirlpool Corporation
• BASF SE
• Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
• Vacuumschmelze GmbH & Co. Kg
• Cooltech Applications
• Astronautics Corporation of America
• Qingdao Haier Co., Ltd.
• Eramet S.A.
• Toshiba Corporation

Report Scope

In this report, the Global Magnetic Refrigeration Market has been segmented into the following categories:

Magnetic Refrigeration Market, by Type:

• Refrigerators
• Air Conditioning System & Heat Pumps

Magnetic Refrigeration Market, by End Use:

• Domestic
• Commercial
• Transportation & Industrial

Magnetic Refrigeration Market, by Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• South America
• Middle East & Africa

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Magnetic Refrigeration Market.

Available Customization

The analyst offers customization according to your specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:

• Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

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