The COVID-19 pandemic imposed fundamental market adaptation challenges across commercial, photographic, publication, packaging, and label printing sectors. However, Smithers’ report The Future of Global Printing to 2026 delivers optimistic findings: despite 2020′s severe disruptions, the market rebounded in 2021, albeit with uneven recovery rates across segments.
Smithers Report: The Future of Global Printing to 2026
In 2021, the global printing industry reached a total value of $760.6 billion, equivalent to 41.9 trillion A4 printouts. While this reflected growth from $750 billion in 2020, volume remained 5.87 trillion A4 sheets below 2019 levels.
The publication, partial imaging, and commercial printing sectors were significantly impacted. Stay-at-home measures caused sharp declines in magazine and newspaper sales, with short-term growth in educational and leisure book orders only partially offsetting losses. Numerous routine commercial printing and imaging orders were canceled. In contrast, packaging and label printing demonstrated greater resilience, emerging as the industry’s strategic focus for the next five-year development period.
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With the stabilization of end-use markets, new investments in printing and post-press equipment are projected to reach $15.9 billion this year. Smithers forecasts that by 2026, packaging/label sectors and emerging Asian economies will drive moderate growth at a 1.9% CAGR, with total market value expected to attain $834.3 billion.
The rising e-commerce demand for packaging printing is driving the adoption of higher-quality digital printing technologies in this sector, creating additional revenue streams for print service providers.
Adapting to rapidly evolving consumer demands through modernization of printing plants and business processes has become critical for success across the printing supply chain. Disrupted supply chains will accelerate digital printing adoption across multiple end-use applications, with its market share (by value) projected to grow from 17.2% in 2021 to 21.6% by 2026, making it the industry’s R&D focal point. As global digital connectivity intensifies, printing equipment will increasingly incorporate Industry 4.0 and web-to-print concepts to enhance operational uptime and order turnaround, enable superior benchmarking, and allow machines to publish real-time available capacity online to attract more orders.
Market Response: Surging E-Commerce Demand for Packaging Printing
OBOOC(established 2007) is Fujian’s pioneer manufacturer of inkjet printer inks. As a National High-Tech Enterprise, we specialize in dye/pigment application R&D and technological innovation. Guided by our core philosophy of “Innovation, Service, and Management”, we leverage proprietary ink technologies to develop premium stationery and office supplies, building a diversified product matrix. Through channel optimization and brand enhancement, we are strategically positioned to become China’s leading office supplies provider, achieving leapfrog development.
OBOOC specializes in dye and pigment R&D, driving innovation in ink technology.
Post time: Jul-21-2025