Interpreting is a 2.5 Billion-Dollar Business

As many of you know, I began working as a senior analyst with syndicated market research firm Common Sense Advisory in May 2008. The company is widely known in the industry for its research, consulting, and its annual ranking of the Top 25 language services companies.

As announced in May, the firm has expanded its coverage of the translation and localization industries and is now publishing market research on the interpreting space as well.

One of the first major publications by Common Sense Advisory on interpreting is a pair of companion reports on telephone interpreting. The reports separately address supply and demand.

Some of the key findings mentioned in the press release about this report include:

- The outsourced interpreting services market hit US$2.5 billion in 2007
- In 2007, the global telephone interpreting market was worth US$700 million
- Of the former amount, an estimated US$500 million was generated in the United States
- The market for outsourced telephone interpreting services is estimated to reach US$1.2 billion by 2012.

Who Spends $3.5 Million Annually on Interpreters?

Boston Medical Center (BMC), that's who. The interpreting services department boasts 9 staff interpreters who help 194,000 limited English proficient patients each year. BMC also offers telephone and video interpreting.

Some other interesting stats:

-BMC has three video-conference machines, each worth about $7,000.
-Video interpreting costs around $3 to $4 per minute.
-Staff interpreters start at $18 per hour.
-Regular contractors make $75 per hour.
-Difficult-to-find languages can earn $150 per hour.
-High-demand languages include: Spanish, Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean, Portuguese and Vietnamese.

Read the full story from Eduardo A. de Oliveira here.