The South and Central America Smart Meters market was valued at USD 2.73 million in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 8.14 million by 2025, at a CAGR of 21.5% over the forecast period 2020 - 2025. The market is primarily driven by governmental roll-outs for large-scale incorporations, in the absence of which the primary drivers are theft prevention and reduction of other non-technical loses, along with functionality improvements, such as the ability to control utilities remotely and time-based tariffs. However, countries lacking supporting legislation are witnessing slow growth in the market, with patchy implementation of the technology. This also inhibits these systems from performing at their optimal level.

• South and Central America are witnessing a rapid increase in the population migrating to urban cities. Given the rising need to reduce global energy demand by one-third, by adopting energy efficient practices, a number of initiatives by the governments are helping to promote energy efficiency initiatives across the region.
• Deployment of smart grids and smart metering systems provides solutions to curb energy wastage in industries. Implementation of smart metering systems enables energy suppliers to continuously monitor the electricity usage, by employing smart meter systems at multiple points within the grid.
• With innovations in technology, new meters with improved efficiency are expected to be employed. Consumers and governments around the world, including energy producers and suppliers, have realized the advantages of employing smart metering systems and are pushing toward their deployment.
• The most prominent limitation in the smart metering market is the unavailability of capital funding. Smart systems are comparatively expensive than the regular metering equipment employed by most service providers and users. Smart metering systems utilize digital components and connectivity systems that enable them to operate and transmit data. This increases the cost of the metering equipment.
• Moreover, different smart meters are designed with various parameters, based on the operational and consumer requirements, thus, driving the costs. Furthermore, smart meters are complicated equipment that require skilled labor. All these factors drive the overall cost of these systems, making them expensive, as compared to regular and conventional metering systems.