The Association for Print Technologies (APTech) and the Printing and Paper Technology Association within VDMA, the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association of Germany (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau) have released the joint comprehensive study “Worldwide Market for Print 2.0: Global Opportunities in Publishing Printing and Marketing & Commercial Printing” (WWMP).
According to the new study, print packaging, publishing printing, and marketing & commercial printing, the largest industry segments, which account for a majority of the worldwide market, are projected to expand from $389bn in 2017 to $421bn in 2020, increasing 2.7% on average per year. Further, the study projects that print packaging will have healthy annual global growth of 4.5% through 2020;print growth will be dragged down by publishing printing, which will contract at an annual rate of 2%; and,marketing & commercial printing will grow at a moderate pace of 0.7%.
The outlook for publishing printing will remain challenging over the next five years with the rise of digital media and decline in printed advertising sales continuing to create a difficult environment. As of 2017, the top five publishing printing markets in the world are China, US, Japan, UK and France, which together account for over 71% of the global market. With exchange rates expected to level out in the coming years, the growth in marketing & commercial printing revenues will rebound in 2017–21. While the U.S., UK, Germany, China and France are the five largest marketing & commercial printing markets, Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing region, with India, Indonesia and Vietnam leading the way. With the worldwide connection to the internet, publishing printing and marketing & commercial printing are losing ground, especially in developed markets. Conversely, in emerging markets, technology has allowed countries to advance to digital media, however, printing is still a cheaper and more effective medium where fewer of the population are regularly online.
The accelerated growth of emerging markets underscores the dominant trends and driving forces identified in this study.