Citric Acid Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the citric acid market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global citric acid market reached a value of nearly $4.2 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.9% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $4.2 billion in 2023 to $5.2 billion in 2028 at a rate of 4.6%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% from 2028 and reach $6.7 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from the increasing demand for processed foods, a growing pharmaceutical industry, growing health-conscious consumers and increasing demand for ready-to-eat products. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period include hazardous effects owning to overconsumption and stringent regulations.

Going forward, the growing food and beverage industry, strong economic growth in emerging markets, increasing urbanization, growing use of industrial and home cleaners and favorable government support will drive the market. Factors that could hinder the growth of the citric acid market in the future include the availability of substitutes and supply chain disruptions.

The citric acid market is segmented by form into liquid and anhydrous. The anhydrous market was the largest segment of the citric acid market segmented by form, accounting for 62.3% or $2.6 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the liquid segment is expected to be the fastest-growing segment in the citric acid market segmented by form, at a CAGR of 5% during 2023-2028.

The citric acid market is segmented by key function into acidulant, preservative, antioxidant, and sequestrant. The acidulant market was the largest segment of the citric acid market segmented by key function, accounting for 46.8% or $2 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the preservative segment is expected to be the fastest-growing segment in the citric acid market segmented by key function, at a CAGR of 5.2% during 2023-2028.

The citric acid market is segmented by application into food and beverage, detergent and cleaners, pharmaceutical, personal care and cosmetics, and other applications. The food and beverage market was the largest segment of the citric acid market segmented by application, accounting for 51.1% or $2.1 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the pharmaceutical segment is expected to be the fastest-growing segment in the citric acid market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 5.4% during 2023-2028.

Asia-Pacific was the largest region in the citric acid market, accounting for 34.2% or $1.4 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by North America, Western Europe and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the citric acid market will be Asia Pacific and Africa, where growth will be at CAGRs of 5.81% and 5.45% respectively. These will be followed by the Middle East and South America, where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 5.11% and 4.72% respectively.

The global citric acid market is fairly fragmented, with a large number of small players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up 16.1% of the total market in 2023. Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM). was the largest competitor with a 4.62% share of the market, followed by Cargill Incorporated with 3.83%, COFCO Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (Cofco Biochemical Corp.) with 2.75%, Hawkins Pharmaceutical Group. with 2.20%, Jungbunzlauer Suisse AG with 1.31%, RZBC Group Co. Ltd. with 0.52%, Finoric LLC. with 0.24%, Nacalai Tesque Inc. with 0.20%, Merck Co. & KGaA. with 0.19% and Gadot Biochemical Industries Ltd. with 0.19%.

The top opportunities in the citric acid market segmented by form will arise in the anhydrous segment, which will gain $620.75 million of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the citric acid market segmented by key function will arise in the acidulant segment, which will gain $474.59 million of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the citric acid market segmented by application will arise in the food and beverage segment, which will gain $568.28 million of global annual sales by 2028. The citric acid market size will gain the most in China at $246.62 million.

Market-trend-based strategies for the citric acid market include the use of biotechnological approaches for the production of citric acid and focus on new plant expansions to strengthen geographic presence.

Player-adopted strategies in the citric acid market include focus on strengthening business capabilities through investments.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the citric acid companies to focus on plant expansions, focus on anhydrous citric acid, focus on preservative segment, expand in emerging markets, provide competitively priced offerings, continue to use B2B promotions and focus on pharmaceutical segment.