In 2016 Smithers Pira published the latest version of what has proved to be a well-received report: “The Future of Digital Print for Packaging to 2022”.  It looks at the trends, drivers, applications and new technology that is shaping the future production landscape of packaging and labels, with forecasts of the market development over the next five years.  These years will see major changes as digital production goes mainstream that will make many brands and retailers look at packaging in new ways, making converters do different things as new supply chains develop. 

In 2017 digitally printed labels and packaging add up to an overall $13.2 billion market globally.  The label sector was the early adopter and is pretty mature in most regions.  There is very strong growth in corrugated as very high performance single pass presses capable of tens of millions of square meters of output annually are snapped up by converters, cartons, flexible packaging and direct-to-shape, with developments in metal printing.  In 2022 the sector will grow to be worth $23.2 billion after five healthy years of growth averaging 11.2% in value terms.  Tonnage grows at an average CAGR of 28.1%, as cartons and the corrugated packaging comes on stream. So, no wonder you are reading the article – hopefully considering how your organization can take advantage of this growth. You are not alone. 

The $13.2 billion is big, but digital packaging is only 3.33% of printed packaging and perhaps a little over 2.0% of all packaging (as there is so much non-printed).  In terms of printed area the equivalent of 163 billion A4 prints is just 1.72% of the total, while the 1.7 million tons of products represents just under 1.03% of all packaging. By 2022 the $23.2 billion digital packaging sector will account for nearly 5.3% of packaging by value, the 334 billion A4 prints will be some 3.2% of the print area output while almost six million tons is also 3.2% of the total.  So even after five years of very strong growth digital will still be a tiny minority – hardly the major disruption predicted by some.  But it is a significant base that will set the stage for major changes in supply chains, and even the functions of packaging which are developing.