The less lethal ammunition market is projected to expand exponentially over the coming years owing to the increasing paintball related recreational activities across the globe, rising geopolitical disputes amongst the civilians and increasing political disputes, riots, and public disorder.

Ammunition are the projectiles or propelling charges which are utilized in artillery, small arms, and other guns. Less lethal projectiles or ammunition are specially designed to debilitate a target without inflicting any serious or lethal injuries.

The baton or traditional club are known to be some of the oldest non-lethal or less lethal type of weapons; however, their use is still risky due to their limited range. Non-lethal ammunitions can still be lethal if they are used indiscriminately or without proportional use of force.

Some less-lethal ammunitions were developed concurrently, and often discreetly, by law-enforcement agencies as well as the military. Presently, most of the mass-produced non-lethal technologies are developed by some of the world’s leading private security firms that have strong marketing skills and backing from government funds.

Less lethal or non-lethal systems are either integrated with firearms or are stand-alone weapons to provide the operator with alternatives for graduated reply. Their misuse or use is fundamentally tied to the concept of a use-of-force continuum.

The market for less lethal ammunition is segmented in terms of ammo, end-user, and regional landscape.

In terms of ammo, the overall less lethal ammunition market is classified into paintball shots, bean bag, rubber shot, and others. Among these, the paintball shots segment currently holds around 5% share and will witness steady growth over the coming years owing to the increasing paintball related recreational activities across the globe.

In recreational paintball, the players are required to wear ballistic eye protection. These ammunitions are specifically designed to be used while practicing or during general play and are frequently used in scenario-based games. Recreational paintballs are also mostly used in commercial fields for different purposes. Additionally, paintballs type of ammo is also used by police officers as a crowd control tools during riots or civil unrest. N these scenarios, the weapons are often loaded with a ball of pepper spray.

From a regional frame of reference, Latin America will be accounting for lower share of the global less lethal ammunition market. However, rising geopolitical disputes among the civilians due to weak authority, illegal migration or economic crisis are enabling law enforcing agencies to pick for less lethal weapons or ammunition.

Subsequently, increasing political disputes, riots, and public disorder have augmented the use of less lethal weapons by agencies as well as militaries for restoring peace and resume normal functioning of society.