NPES Releases Updated Landmark World-Wide Market for Print Study

NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies announced the release of its comprehensive study, “World-Wide Market for Print: Identifying Global Opportunities for the Print Industry.” A team of consultants from the Economist Intelligence Unit, the business information arm of The Economist Group and a leading provider of country intelligence, conducted the research for NPES. PRIMIR, NPES’s market research unit, along with a blue chip NPES member task force provided oversight and insights for the study.

The research evaluated key country demographics, investigated global and regional printing industry trends and sized the global printing industry along with each of the 51 country markets for the study. Print market data for publishing, promotional/commercial printing, transactional, display and point-of-purchase printing, as well as package printing are provided. Data about the markets for printing equipment, consumables and substrates are also quantified in the new NPES study.

According to the study, total world print revenue is projected to grow 8%, up from $584 billion in 2011, to $668 billion in 2017, with the global economic recovery fueling consumption, to varying degrees, across all print categories and regions. The U.S. accounted for more than $132 billion of the 2011 market, followed by China, and Japan which came in at a distant third in print market revenue size. However, by 2017 at $154 billion, China is projected to be the largest print market compared to the U.S. at $141.8 billion.

An important element of the study is the identification of the fastest-growing (developing) markets with the most potential for printing industry overall growth, and for sales of printing equipment, supplies and substrates. Among others these include the Philippines, Hungary, Ukraine, and Indonesia in addition to the BRIC countries. As literacy, incomes and consumption rise, along with packaging (which is the global growth leader), many of these countries will demonstrate growth in publishing—magazines, newspapers and books. This trend is in sharp contrast to publishing trends in developed regions of the world.

Not surprisingly, package printing dominates much of the global print revenue growth. Growing to 43% of the market in 2017, from 35 percent in 2007, package printing will enjoy a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.2% between 2012 and 2017. All subcategories of packaging printing will grow at rates of 3% to 5%, with corrugated print packaging enjoying the highest share of the global packaging market.

“With print markets in North America and other developed nations flat or declining, NPES member companies need to understand the markets with potential for long-term growth,” said Ralph Nappi, president of NPES. “This comprehensive study provides members with a roadmap to those countries that present the most opportunity for growth.”

The 2013 study incorporates a fresh macroeconomic assessment for each major region of the world and provides a profile for each of the 51 countries that make up more than 90% of the global print market.

The new “World-wide Market for Print” study is now available for purchase at www.npes.org.