Predictions for 2026 | Future timeline

Read 41 predictions for 2026, a year that will see the world transform in big and small ways; this includes disruptions throughout our culture, technology, science, health and business sectors. It’s your future, discover what you’re in for.

Quantumrun Foresight prepared this list; A futurist consulting firm that uses strategic foresight to help companies thrive from future trends.

Fast forecasts for 2026

Fast Forecast
  • The European Union implements the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with an option to defer until 2028. 1
  • The National Aeronautics and Space Administration launches a rotorcraft to study Saturn's icy moon, Titan. 1
  • Consumers spend over USD $937 billion globally for ride sharing. 1
  • 25% of online users will spend at least 1 hour per day in the Metaverse. 1
  • The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Italian Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency jointly launch a Mars mission to explore the near-surface ice deposits. 1
  • 90% of online content will be artificial intelligence (AI)-generated. 1
  • The European Space Agency (ESA) launches the Plato Mission, using 26 telescopes to search for habitable planets like Earth. 1
  • Startup Aska makes the first deliveries of its four-passenger air-mobility vehicles (e.g., flying cars), pre-sold at USD $789,000 each. 1
  • The Hybrit consortium of European steelmakers builds a commercial-scale plant in Sweden, producing 1.3 million tons of fossil-free iron annually for high-quality steel production. 1
  • Volvo mass produces cars with green steel, the first automaker to do so. 1
  • The global market for cell and gene therapy has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 33.6% since 2021, reaching approximately USD $17.4 billion. 1
  • The global exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry's asset under management (AUM) doubles since 2022. 1
  • The global Agriculture Internet of Things (IoT) market size and share revenue reaches USD $18.7 billion, up from USD $11.9 billion in 2020. 1
  • The global virtual reality (VR) in healthcare market size and share revenue reach USD $40.98 billion, up from USD $2.70 billion in 2020. 1
  • The European Union's experimental, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is activated for the first time 1
  • China's economy will overtake the U.S. for the first time 1
  • First 3D Fast Bus, the Land Airbus, is tested on Chinese roads 1
  • Google contributes to speeding up the Internet, to make it 1000 times faster 1
  • Near-infrared goggles help surgeons view cancer cells and see tumors as small as 1mm 1
  • Cost of solar panels, per watt, equals 0.75 US dollars 1
  • World population forecasted to reach 8,215,348,000 1
  • World sales of electric vehicles reaches 10,526,667 1
  • Predicted global mobile web traffic equals 126 exabytes 1
  • Global Internet traffic grows to 452 exabytes 1

Country forecasts for 2026

Read forecasts about 2026 specific to a range of countries, including:

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