(Read the original releaase here.)

If you are like most consumers today, the chances are that there is at least one, if not multiple, cartons stacked up at your front door. They are not just stacked up by your front door—it’s a growing global phenomenon. In fact, corrugated, solid fiber packaging is projected to grow by about 13% between 2022 and 2027. Considering the global population growth rate has declined from approximately 2% in the 1960s to ~1.05% today, that means we are purchasing and consuming a lot more products. In fact, global retail sales are expected to increase at a CAGR of 7.7% through 2025 as a result of the growing middle-class consumer population. There are many forms of packaging available today and boxes play a role in almost all of them, whether directly for the product, product aggregation, or transport.

According to the Smithers report The Impact of Changing Run Lengths on Packaging and Labels to 2027, “the average run lengths are falling.” In fact, it is predicted that average runs are falling, which means many more short-to-medium runs. The predicted shift of 26% to 29% of all carton volume equates to over a million more jobs in Europe/NA. This is 15 million additional jobs over all packaging types, and globally it could be over 50 million additional jobs!