Graphic Arts Industry Enterprises in Greece

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.

The development of the number of print establishments in Greece does not follow the general trend in Europe. Instead, it is influenced by regional events, namely the euro debt crisis of 2010 and the following years, in which Greece was hit the worst. As a result, the number of enterprises declined rapidly until stabilizing in 2017 and growing again afterward. In contrast, the pandemic had no effect on the number of shops and figures kept on rising, while in most other European countries the numbers dropped.

While numbers have been on the rise in Greece for recent years, the forecast expects the growth to taper off and turn into a slight decline later on, as slowing demand, rising operating costs, and high interest rates will take their toll on companies, leading to more consolidation. Overall, the number of graphic arts establishments is likely to decline from almost 1,200 in 2012 to about 1,000 by 2030.

Source: digitalprintexpert.de / 2024

As in all countries, the majority of companies in the graphic arts industry in Greece are small. More than 86% have less than 10 employees (even after adjusting for dormant or non-productive companies). Only 1.5% of all enterprises have more than 50 employees, which is noticeably below the European average.

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 951 print enterprises in 2022—almost the same amount as graphic arts industry enterprises in Greece.

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 profile Hungary. A European overview can be found here.

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.

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