Companies in the surveying and mapping industry play an important role in land development, from planning and design of land subdivisions to the final construction of roads and utilities, and landscaping. Surveying and mapping involve measurement of the earth’s surface including the sea floor, layout and measurement of project facilities, and preparation of maps. The global surveying and mapping market in can be segmented by service type into cadastral surveying, topographic surveying, hydrographic surveying, and other land surveying services. Of these segments, the other land surveying services market is expected to grow at the fastest annual growth rate of 9.1% to 2022.

Other land surveying services include construction of layout of high-rise steel structures, 3-D laser scanning for commercial and residential developments, buildings, highways, bridges, utilities, waterways and property acquisitions, photogrammetric mapping services, geospatial mapping services, geographic information system (GIS) base mapping services, geodetic surveying services, construction surveying services, cartographic surveying services, and aerial surveying (except geophysical) services. In 2018, the other land surveying services market was the smallest segment of the global surveying and mapping market, accounting for 15.9% of the total share. The hydrographic surveying market was the largest segment, at 33% total share.

The fast growth of the other land surveying services market can be attributed to the increasing use of land surveying services such as geospatial mapping services, geographic information system (GIS) base mapping services, geodetic surveying services, construction surveying services, cartographic surveying services, and aerial surveying services in the rapidly growing construction industries globally.

In 2018, a study was conducted on surveyors by Point of Beginning (POB), a digital magazine for geospatial professionals. According to the study, the market for geospatial technologies in 2017 had risen to $292.2 billion with an economic impact of $2.21 trillion, whereas in 2013, the market for geospatial technologies was placed at $202.8 billion with an economic impact of $1.18 trillion. Additionally, in terms of work performed in 2018, boundary surveying was the highest with 83% of engagement in 2018 compared to the 79% in 2015. The other top surveying works performed in 2018 included GPS surveying (72%), construction site surveying (70%), cadastral or topographic surveying (63%), civil engineering (53%), GPS mapping (41%), geodetic surveying (30%), cartography (29%), hydrographic surveying (24%), and water/wastewater management (22%).

Secom Group, which was the largest competitor in the surveying and mapping market in 2018, has its Geographic Information Services division. It offers other land surveying services such as aerial surveying, geospatial information services and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) services, which are based on geographic data collected from aerial photography or satellite images.