What is MICE and how big is the MICE industry?

MICE is the business side of live events: Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions. The trade floor, not the dance floor. It is the biggest slice by far. $1.3 trillion in direct spending in 2025, 1.65 billion participants in 180+ countries, $1.8 trillion added to world GDP, according to the Events Industry Council (the sector's global body). If MICE were a country it would be the 16th largest economy on earth, ahead of the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia. Where the money sits: corporate events $566 billion, conventions and congresses $383 billion, trade shows $179 billion, incentive trips $87 billion. North America pays $488 billion of it, Asia $353 billion and now bigger than Western Europe. Oxford Economics (the forecasting house) sees business events at $1.6 trillion by 2028. Business events are the biggest slice inside the broad live-events market of $1.2 to 1.6 trillion, which also counts concerts, festivals and sports. My $2.5 trillion forecast is for that whole market.