The global market for Helium is projected to reach US$2.9 billion by the year 2027, trailing a post COVID-19 CAGR of 4.3%, over the analysis period 2020 through 2027. Helium was the first alien element to be discovered 150 years ago on the exterior of the sun and was named after "Helios" the Greek god of the sun. Despite the fact that 25% of the universe mass is made up of helium, it represents the rarest element on our planet. Helium is non-renewable and cannot be artificially produced and a large portion of helium is mined and harvested from natural gas deposits. With a boiling point at -452 degrees Fahrenheit, helium is the coldest of all elements & is the world's best known coolant. Today, this gas has acquired versatility & widespread indispensable uses in MRI machines, chemistry lab equipment, microscopes, bar code scanners, inert gas wielding, satellite instruments, semiconductor chip manufacturing and party balloons. Helium gas is commonly used for inflating scientific balloons, blimps and party balloons. The gas holds use as an effective inert shield in the arc welding process, to pressurize fuel tanks used for liquid-fueled rockets, and in supersonic wind tunnels. Helium with oxygen creates a nitrogen-free atmosphere to help deep sea divers in sustaining under water and get protection from nitrogen narcosis. In addition, liquid helium represents a popular cryogenic material used for creating superconducting magnets and studying superconductivity.

Some of the other industrial applications of helium include production of silicon crystals and germanium crystals, detection of pipeline leakage, as carrier gas in gas chromatography application, cryogenics, superconducting magnets and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Helium gas is widely used in the healthcare industry for treating respiratory ailments like emphysema and asthma. In addition, liquid helium finds use as cooling medium for various magnets and specific processes for NMR spectrometers and MRI scanners. Being an unreactive element, helium is used for detecting leakages in air-conditioning systems of vehicles. The ability of helium to diffuse faster than other unreactive gases makes it a suitable option for inflating airbags in automobiles. Helium is also used in supermarkets to scan barcodes using helium-neon gas-based lasers. The current expansion of helium market is restrained by implementation of stringent regulations owing to concerns associated with leakage and accidents, in addition to the COVID-19 related global factors. Leading regulators have specified mandates regarding storage and transport of cryogenic liquids including helium. Compliance with these guidelines are leading to high handling costs for operators, reducing the profitability. Moreover, the extraction, production and transportation of helium is high capital-intensive in nature. Vendors transporting helium need to invest in specialized cryogenic containers to ensure safety. In addition, helium storage requires double-walled pressure containers featuring multilayer vacuum insulation along with external radiation shield that needs to be cooled with liquid nitrogen for regulating storage quantity. The market growth is also impeded by rising concerns over depleting reserves of helium along with inadequate industrial safety practices. Another challenge for companies is increasing prices of helium owing to the demand-supply imbalance. The short supply of helium has resulted in escalating prices of the gas in the recent years. The supply-related issue can be attributed to fast depletion of sources along with delay in extraction projects.

In the post COVID-19 period, growth will be led by increasing consumption across end-use industries and heavy investments in R&D to develop innovative helium-based systems. Growth will also be facilitated by increasing R&D activity and extensive use as cryogenic coolant defense and energy research. Liquid helium is also used in the field of quantum mechanics for studying atomic structure along with behavior of various subatomic particles like protons, electrons and neutrons. Researchers are also exploring the use of super-cooled helium or helium-4 to improve GPS for airplanes and submarines. The increasing use of helium in semiconductor production, nuclear power generation plants and metal works is expected to bolster the market over the coming years. The helium market is likely to continuously receive a strong stimulus from medical applications like NMR and MRI along with expansion of the semiconductor and electronics industries in Asia-Pacific. Manufacturers of semiconductors, optical fibers and flat panel displays depend heavily on helium for cooling applications. MRI scanners need liquid helium for cooling superconductive magnet coils. Helium is the only option for maintaining low temperature in commercial superconducting magnets for NMR spectroscopy. The continuous expansion of the healthcare industry globally is anticipated to present new revenue generating opportunities to participants. On the other hand, the high cost of extraction and stringent regulations regarding the use of helium continue to be the major challenges for the market. Also, the world's helium supply remains fragile & vulnerable with the U.S. producing over 75% of the world's helium supply, followed by North Africa, The Middle East, and Russia.