THE METAVERSE will be worth a whopping $678.8billion by 2030, new forecasts predict.

Analysis by Grand View Research points to the metaverse increasing by as much as 39.4 percent in compound annual growth by the end of the decade.

Over the past year digital platforms such as Decentraland, The Sandbox and Roblox have seen interest skyrocket.

Mark Zuckerberg‘s announcement about plans to build a virtual world made headlines across the globe in October, and interest in digital lands also grew as an increasing number of brands joined the space.

Sales associated with the metaverse currently made up $38.85billion in 2021 and Grand View Research see the value going in only one direction over the next eight years.

Sign up to get our weekly and monthly metaverse news round-ups direct to your inbox

The analysts’ report said: “Major factors expected to drive the revenue growth include a growing focus on integrating digital and physical worlds using the internet, increasing momentum and popularity of Mixed Reality (MR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), and the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.”

Lockdowns imposed over the past two years in order to combat Covid has led to a rise in working from home and online learning.

Many businesses are now looking to adopt their model in order to allow more regular work outside of a physical office, with the metaverse opening up new opportunities.

The surge in interest has analysts suggesting the metaverse could one day be worth more than $12trillion.

Grand View Research said: “According to C-level executives of the leading metaverse solution providers, depending on the percentage share of the digital economy shifting to the metaverse and the percentage of total addressable market expansion, the potential market opportunity for the metaverse is estimated to be between $3.75trillion and $12.46trillion.”

The digital economy currently represents a 15.5 percent share of global GDP, according to the United Nations.

It is expected to continue to grow in its share in the future.

Firms that have already joined virtual spaces are already reaping the benefits.

Earlier this week, Nike outlined how its presence in Roblox had helped boost interaction with customers.

Its Nikeland world has already been visited nearly seen million times in less than six months.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s launch of the Galaxy S22 phone in Decentraland was witnessed by more than 100,000 people.

Follow 24/7 Crypto on Twitter for the latest news and developments as they happen