Graphic Arts Industry Enterprises in Germany

The graphic arts industry includes graphic arts print, often also termed commercial print (although including publication and specialty print in this overview), as well as newspaper print, prepress, and postpress companies. Since 2012, the number of printing establishments in Europe shows a steady decline—the effect of ongoing consolidation in the industry.

In line with expectations, the number of establishments in Germany declined on average by 3.7% from 2012 to 2022—somewhat above the average decline rate in Europe. Yet numbers stabilized since 2018, even with a surprising uptick in 2021. A contributing factor was companies being kept operational by subsidies during the pandemic, which led to unusually low rates of shutdowns. The recent pressure on print costs and volumes will lead to higher rates of shutdowns in the next few years, however, as we have already seen in 2022. Also, the rising operating costs will take their toll on companies not prepared to handle the cost and interest rate increases and lead to more consolidation. Accordingly, the forecast expects the decline to resume at a similar rate as before the rapid fluctuations in 2021 and 2022. Overall, the number of graphic arts establishments is likely to decline from more than 10,000 in 2012 to about 5,050 by 2030.

Source: digitalprintexpert.de / 2024

As in all countries, the majority of companies in the graphic arts industry in Germany are small. More than 70% have less than 10 employees (even after adjusting for dormant or non-productive companies). Only 7.1% of all enterprises have more than 50 employees, which is above the European average—and, in fact, makes Germany the country with the biggest share of large companies in Europe.

There are other important print producers that are, statistically speaking, not part of the graphic arts industry. Those are folding carton, flexible packaging, corrugated, and label printing, plus photocopy services and in-house printing. This adds another 4,696 print enterprises in 2022—more than three-quarters of the number of graphic arts industry enterprises in Germany.

Further Industry Data

This article is part of a bi-weekly series of pieces looking at print industry data in 24 European countries. The next article will feature Greece. A European overview can be found here: https://whattheythink.com/data/119946-sizing-european-print-industry/

A breakout of all segments by country and timelines for the number of establishments, revenue, and employment in the graphic arts industry and other print segments can be found in the 2024 European Print Industry Sizing report. The report also features the number of companies by size class and country. The report can be purchased from the WhatTheyThink store. https://store.whattheythink.com/downloads/european-print-industry-sizing-2024/

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