The global printing market will resume growth, but the development process in the next five years will still be full of challenges.

According to the latest market research report "The outlook for global print through to 2026" released by Smithers, the global printing market sales revenue will reach 781.5 billion US dollars in 2022 (total printing production About 42.71 trillion A4 printed sheets). Due to the severe impact of the new crown epidemic on the global printing market, the scale is still lower than the level of 2019 before the outbreak of the new crown virus.

2016-2026 Global Printing Market Growth Overview by Continent

(Unit: US$ billion, calculated at constant 2020 exchange rates)

Global Printing Market Outlook

In the next five years, the sales revenue of the global printing market will grow at an annual rate of 1.9%. By 2026, the global printing market will reach 834.3 billion US dollars.

The main factors affecting the growth of the global printing market are the global packaging and label printing fields, as well as the printing market in developing countries. At the same time, the new crown epidemic has changed consumers' consumption behavior, and the substitution effect of electronic products on paper printed products is accelerating, causing the global publication printing and commercial printing markets to stagnate or shrink.

It should be emphasized that the above-mentioned growth in the global printing market is an increase in sales, and the corresponding total printing production may be difficult to return to the pre-epidemic level. In 2021, the total printing production in the global printing market will be 41.90 trillion A4 printed sheets, which is still 5.87 trillion A4 printed sheets lower than the total output in 2019.

Asian Printing Market Forecast

Asia remains the world's largest regional market. With some exceptions, Asia has weathered the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic more effectively than Europe or North America. In 2022, the Asian printing market will reach 325.6 billion US dollars, and its total printing production will be about 17.83 trillion A4 printed sheets.

Asia is a diverse market. Demand for printed matter in Japan has matured, and demand for printed matter is declining. The future prospects of the printing market in other Asian countries are different. Regardless of market sales or total printing production, China is already the largest printing market in the region, and it will maintain an annual growth rate of 4.3% in the next five years. In addition, Vietnam and Indonesia will be the fastest-growing printing markets in the world (in terms of sales and printing output). The printing market in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines also has attractive prospects.

Global Printing Equipment Market Trends

Changes in the global printing market will also be reflected in the sales of printing equipment. In 2022, the global sales of new printing equipment will hit a new high, reaching 16.01 billion US dollars. To a certain extent, this is due to the cumulative effect of demand generated by many printing companies to suspend equipment investment from 2020 to 2021. Sales of new printing presses and postpress equipment in Asia are expected to reach $6.18 billion during the same period.

Affected by the reduction in batches of printing orders, the demand for digital printing equipment (electrostatic imaging and inkjet) by printing companies around the world will increase significantly. In 2022, the sales of digital printing equipment will account for 34.6% of the total sales of new printing equipment in the world. In some long-run order printing areas, traditional printing equipment will face the challenge of higher-volume digital printing. The printing quality of inkjet printing is constantly improving, and in some application scenarios, it is already comparable to the quality of offset printing.

Thanks to its widespread use in packaging printing, flexo printing equipment is the only traditional printing equipment whose sales will continue to grow in the next five years. In order to remain competitive, many traditional printing equipment manufacturers are adding more automation features to their equipment, offering in-line finishing, inkjet printing units (combined printing concept).