Asia Pacific unleashes growth potential
The report shows that the global label printing market is expected to reach US$44.8 billion in 2024 and continue to grow at a strong momentum. From 2024 to 2029, the global label printing market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.8%.
In terms of growth volume, the global label printing volume will grow significantly in the next five years. The report predicts that from 2024 to 2029, the global label printing volume will jump from 1.34 trillion A4 sheets to 1.66 trillion A4 sheets, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.4%.
In terms of growth regions, North America will account for the largest market share in the global label printing market in 2024. In terms of market growth, the label printing market in the Asia-Pacific region has great potential from 2024 to 2029, with China and India dominating. The Asia-Pacific region is the most populous region in the world, and the demand for packaging and fast, high-quality label solutions in the food and beverage industry is growing. At the same time, the growth of industry and manufacturing is expected to drive the growth of the label printing market in China and India.
Digital labels are recognized by the market
The report shows that in the next few years, the application prospects of digital printing technology in the field of labels are optimistic, and its application speed in the label market will exceed that of traditional printing.
Compared with traditional label printing equipment, digital label printing equipment can produce small batches of products, and the label content can be customized according to needs, which has greatly increased the application proportion of digital printing technology in the global label printing market in 2024, and is expected to reach 21.6%. Traditional printing equipment manufacturers are trying to improve processes by increasing the degree of automation, including speeding up job setup and plate change, and increasing the use of fixed color palettes.
Although the printing speed of digital label printing equipment is relatively slow compared with high-throughput flexographic printing, it is more suitable for long-run printing, which may hinder the growth of the digital printing label market to a certain extent. However, its streamlined workflow and job management have continuously enhanced its competitiveness and won the favor of many label printing companies. At the same time, with the emergence of more and more hybrid printing equipment such as pairing digital printing engines with online post-press processing units, the versatility of label printing service providers has increased. With this evolution, inkjet printing will replace toner printing as the preferred digital printing method for labels.
Beverages and food occupy a large share
The report shows that beverages and food will become the two areas with the highest market share in label printing. The beverage and food sectors are mainly consumer-oriented, and their labels provide consumers with product identification, ingredient information, etc. Especially in high-value brands, labels are often used to enhance the attractiveness of products and influence consumer perception. In 2024, the market share of these two major areas is expected to account for 64.9% of the global label printing market share.
The market share of the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries ranks behind the two segments of beverages and food. The pharmaceutical industry faces increasingly severe challenges from counterfeit products. For medical devices and drug packaging, labels carry unique product identifiers and two-dimensional data matrix codes, which can achieve supply chain traceability and prevent counterfeiting.
Among the five types of labels discussed in the report, the fastest growing are pressure-sensitive labels and sleeve labels, while wet glue labels and in-film labels are growing relatively slowly. Among them, the rapid growth of pressure-sensitive labels and sleeve labels mainly benefits from the market's demand for packaging sustainability, preferring to use lighter polymer raw materials, and technologies that are easier to separate from the substrate during recycling. At the same time, the label printing market is also actively applying more advanced artificial intelligence software and improving operational efficiency by enhancing the quality control and detection functions of printing equipment.
