Globalisation and technological advances have impacted most business sectors, and the translation industry is no exception. The translation industry is growing fast, both in demand for services and in service providers. For example, the annual value of the translation market has increased year on year and currently shows no signs of slowing down, surpassing £50 billion internationally in 2021. Due to globalisation, the demand for translation services is higher than ever, and the need for the translation of documents between multiple languages is more common. Additionally, the number of translators in the UK and internationally is also increasing.

These positive trends mean the translation industry will become more competitive as translation agencies battle to decrease delivery times, whilst maintaining high quality and fair pricing. Subject matter expert (SME) translators will become increasingly important as the translation industry becomes more competitive.

The Translation Industry – A Highly Competitive Market 

The development of advanced translation technologies has allowed the translation industry to flourish over the past few years, and we only see this trend continuing. Digital translation aids and technology, including automated translations, machine translation (MT) or computer aided translation (CAT), Translation Memory (TM) and artificial intelligence (AI) will increasingly become part of every translator’s toolkit. However, the need for precise localisation and transcreation services will still require human skills to produce a high quality deliverable for the foreseeable future.

Furthermore, modern day translators in the UK need to develop their skills beyond a direct translation of documents. They also need to be adept at integrating multiple software tools into their project workflows. Without such tools to create drafts to add their creative skills too, they will be unable to meet deadlines or offer acceptable pricing.

Many international companies are looking to enter emerging markets in developing countries. Therefore, there is an increased need for translation of documents in the areas of business, legal, medical and scientific fields. This means translation agencies need to work with subject matter experts and industry specialists translating across an ever wider selection of languages.

As the Internet becomes our preferred method of obtaining information, we increasingly rely on search engines. In fact, this trend is impacting the translation industry. If the user is unable to find content online, it will never be read, making Search Engine Optimisation increasingly important. Whilst this will not affect the translation of documents intended for physical distribution, it will affect the translation of websites. We predict the increasing importance of specialist SEO translation. Now when translating content intended for the web, translators in the UK and internationally should also be considering the appropriate use of short- and long-tail phrases. It also needs to rank in the most popular searches.

The Key Future Trends in the Translation Industry include:

1. Growing demand and market potential
2. Increasingly competitive market
3. Faster turnaround times
4. Lower prices in common language pairs
5. Significant reliance on translation technology to aid human translators
6. Requirements for localisation and transcreation services increasing
7. Greater variety of language combinations being translated
8. Increased importance of specialist SEO translation services

Renaissance Translations’ Professional Language Services 

Renaissance Translations is a leader in the translation industry. With over 5,000 translators on our books, including many translators in the UK, we cater to many markets and specialisms. We only work with qualified and experienced translators, translating into their native language, in order to guarantee a high-quality translation of documents. Get in touch today to discuss your project with one of our project managers. We will be happy to become your language services partner.