NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies released its comprehensive study, "World-wide Market for Print: Identifying Global Opportunities for the Print Industry." The research, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), investigated key global and regional printing industry trends, and sized the global printing industry for 51 country markets.
According to the study, total world print revenue is projected to grow 8%, up from $584 in 2011, to $668 (U.S. $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.
A key element of the study is the identification of the fastest-growing, high potential print markets with the most potential for printing industry overall growth, and for sales of printing equipment, supplies and substrates; these include India, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore and others globally. Packaging will continue as the leading growth segment, yet, as literacy, incomes and consumption rise, many of these countries will demonstrate growth in publishing—magazines, newspapers and books—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% in 2007, package printing will enjoy a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.2% between 2012 and 2017.
According to Ralph Nappi, President of NPES, "EIU's team used data from a prior PRIMIR 2006 study as a benchmark and then instituted a comprehensive primary and secondary research plan to establish new statistics and qualitative assessments taking into account industry trends that will influence the global/regional forecasts."
The 2014 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 over 90% of the global print market.
