- The popularity of drones is constantly growing. According to data from the Civil Aviation Authority, as of December 31, 2023, there were 222,086 registered operators of unmanned aerial vehicles in Poland.
- The MegaDron analytical team examined the attitude of Poles towards the increasingly widespread use of drones in agriculture and transport, as well as in rescue and war operations. It also checked how much Poles would be willing to spend on an unmanned aerial vehicle for entertainment purposes.
- 81% of Poles believe that drones will deliver parcels to homes in the future. Nearly 3/4 of Polish seniors (74%) would like to use drone transport. 69% of Poles would be willing to spend more than PLN 1,500 on a drone for entertainment purposes.
Drones as couriers? 81% of Poles believe this is a realistic scenario
The use of drones in e-commerce has been talked about for at least a decade. Respondents were asked if they believed that drones would deliver packages to homes in the future. As many as 81% of respondents believe that drones will replace (at least partially) couriers. 12% do not believe in such a scenario, and 7% have no opinion on the matter.
Thirty-year-olds are the group that is most convinced that drones will be used more widely in e-commerce in the future (83.7%). The youngest group of Poles surveyed also strongly believes in this. 82.9% of people aged 18-29 believe that unmanned aerial vehicles will one day bring packages to homes. Interestingly, as many as 79.3% of people over 60 and the same number of fifty-year-olds believe that a scenario in which a flying courier delivers a package to their home is realistic. The most skeptical about the idea of using drones in e-commerce are forty-year-olds (79.1%).
Who is more convinced that drones will be used as couriers – women or men? Although the difference in opinions between the sexes is not large, it is worth noting that 81.5% of men and 72.5% of women believe that drones will deliver packages to homes in the future.
68% of Poles would take a flying taxi
The drone industry is already talking not only about the possibility of using unmanned aerial vehicles to deliver packages, but also to transport people. It turns out that Poles would be happy to test such a means of transport. 68% of respondents would get on a passenger drone. 15% of respondents would not use such an opportunity, and 17% have no opinion on the subject – perhaps it is difficult for them to imagine what such a solution would look like in practice.
3/4 of Polish seniors would use drone transport
Although it might seem that interest in technological innovations is the domain of the young, it turns out that the greatest enthusiasts of passenger drones are people over 60. As many as 74% of Polish seniors answered affirmatively when asked whether they would use a drone as a means of transport. In second place were thirty-year-olds. 73% of respondents said they would take a sky taxi. The same was declared by 67% of fifty-year-olds and 64% of people aged 18-29. The most skeptical about the idea of flying a drone are Polish forty-year-olds. Only 60% of respondents would like to use such a solution.
Men are more likely than women to take a sky taxi
When it comes to using a drone as a means of transport, there is a clear difference between the sexes. 69% of men and only 45% of women say they would get on a passenger drone. 15% of men and 26% of women would not choose this transport alternative, and 16% of men and as many as 29% of women have no opinion on the subject.
69% of Poles would spend more than PLN 1,500 on a drone for entertainment purposes
More and more people fly as a hobby, recording travel videos, taking aerial photos at family events or racing with other acrobatics enthusiasts. 34% of respondents would spend from PLN 1,501 to PLN 3,000 on an unmanned aerial vehicle for entertainment purposes. 31% of respondents would pay up to PLN 1,500 for a drone, and 1/4 of respondents would spend from PLN 3,001 to PLN 6,500 on the purchase of flying equipment. It is worth noting that every tenth Pole would be willing to spend more than PLN 6,500 for this purpose.
The youngest generation of Poles surveyed would be willing to spend the most money on a drone for entertainment purposes. As many as 14.6% of people aged 18-29 declare that they would spend more than PLN 6,500 on an unmanned aircraft. In second place are people in their 40s (11.2%). Right behind them are people in their 30s (10.4%) and 50s (9.2%). Only 3.4% of the oldest Poles would be able to spend more than PLN 6,500 on this purpose.
92% of Poles believe that investing in drones can contribute to the development of agriculture
Unmanned aerial vehicles have revolutionized the agricultural sector. Drones are used for spraying, fertilizing, spreading, and monitoring crop conditions. 92% of respondents believe that drone technology can be a significant support for agriculture.
The youngest generation of adult Poles believes most strongly in the positive impact of unmanned aerial vehicles on agriculture. Among people aged 18-29, as many as 95.6% see the point of using this technology in the agricultural sector. People in their thirties (95%) and fifties (93.1%) have a similar opinion. 11.6% of people in their forties do not believe that drones can be a significant support for agriculture. However, people aged 60+ are the most conservative in this respect. As many as 13.1% of respondents rely on traditional methods of spraying, sowing or fertilizing. The distrust of drone technology among the oldest generation may result, among other things, from a lack of sufficient knowledge on the subject.
Once again, men, more than women, are convinced that the use of drones can bring real benefits – this time to the agricultural sector. 93% of men and 78% of women believe that unmanned aerial vehicles can significantly affect the development of agriculture. 7% of men and 22% of women hold the opposite opinion.
The survey was conducted using the CAWI method in the second quarter of 2024 on a sample of 1,130 respondents.