LEATHERHEAD, Surrey, UK – The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) print market is offering dynamic and exciting opportunities according to the latest exclusive research from Smithers Pira. 

Data in the new report – The Future of Printing in the Middle East and North Africa to 2022 shows the region as a whole is set to expand from a value of $26.8 billion in 2017 at an annual rate of 8.7% to pass $40 billion in 2022. This contrasts with a mean annual growth of 2.4% for 2012-2017 reflecting the opening of until now underdeveloped countries to the full range of modern print products and technologies.

This expansion is occurring against a more static backdrop for the print industry generally, with annual global growth pegged at a more sober 2% as traditional segments decline. As a consequence the Middle East and North Africa can be seen as an attractive strategic growth target for international print equipment and consumable suppliers. 

Steve Hill, Smithers Pira’s Operations Director EMEA, says: ‘The drop off in demand for high volume print products – like books and newspapers – in core European and North America markets, means the print industry needs to find new markets. And from a number of perspectives MENA is very attractive for this. We are seeing global print firms opening new offices and reporting sales to the region, and local print service providers diversifying their product offering as they rapidly adopt new technologies. 

‘Of course, selling effectively into MENA has some unique challenges but our research shows the demand is and will be there; and there are specific opportunities now, like the opening up of the post-sanctions Iranian market, and transition economies moving towards food sold in supermarkets in locally printed packaging.’ 

MENA is not divorced from wider print technology trends, with digital – inkjet and toner – output set to rise at the fastest rate. Overall MENA output will rise from 2.61 trillion A4 sheet equivalents in 2017 to 2.76 trillion in 2022. This is a more modest 2.8% annual growth, but emphasises the value-adding potential and higher per unit print service providers will be able to realise with a new generation of print, pre-press, and finishing equipment.

Smithers Pira will be exhibiting at Gulf Pack and Print 2017, 26-29 March, Dubai on stand P9.  

Delegates to the event will be able to:

• Pick up a free copy of the new Smithers white paper – Print in the Middle East: 5 Opportunities for Growth
• Purchase the new report – The Future of Printing in the Middle East and North Africa to 2022– with an exclusive 20% discount
• Review and discuss Smithers comprehensive global market reports portfolio and market consultancy services.