The purpose of the article is an objective review of the global actuator market, as well as identifying the key factors of demand shifting from traditional hydraulic and pneumatic drives towards more innovative electromechanical actuators. In the article the basic market characteristics such as the volume and dynamics of the market, the market structure of consumption by segments, the key factors of the decision making, the economic feasibility of electromechanical actuators installation are reviewed. The main method used in this article writing is a review of existing Russian and foreign studies in the field of actuator economy and technology. The authors performed market analysis and compared the basic technical characteristics of existing actuators. There are made conclusions about the "migration" of demand from hydraulic and pneumatic solutions to electromechanical actuators in the aerospace and manufacturing industries. Identify advantages of electromechanics over more traditional actuators in terms of energy efficiency and reliability. Also identify the most promising areas of the drive technological development.