Behind the 'slow growth' of the global printing ink market, there are 5 major driving factors!
According to the latest market report "Future Development of the Global Printing Ink Market by 2030," the global printing ink market is projected to grow from $31.1 billion in 2020 to $35.8 billion in 2025. It is expected to reach $40.2 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 2.9%. The following are five key factors driving the growth of the global printing ink market.
01
Strong Growth in Packaging Printing
In recent years, the demand for ink in the publishing sector has shown a declining trend, particularly in newspaper and magazine printing. However, book production remains strong. Commercial printing continues to grow, and most notably, packaging printing, as a large and important component of the global ink market, has seen robust growth on a solid foundation for both traditional inks and digital printing inks. By 2030, it is expected that the use of inks in packaging printing will account for nearly 50% of the total global printing ink market share.
02
Flexographic Market Share Continues to Grow
As one of the important processes in packaging printing, flexographic printing is widely used due to its advantages of being suitable for a wide range of substrates, cost-effectiveness, and environmentally friendly properties. By 2025, the market sales of flexographic printing inks reached 7 billion USD. Driven by the growing demand for end-use packaging products and effective competition with other printing technologies, both the demand and sales of flexographic inks have shown a growth trend.
03
Rapid Growth of Inkjet Printing
Inkjet printing is the fastest-growing technology among all printing technologies. It is used in publication printing, especially book printing, as well as in packaging (label) printing. The rapid growth in the market share of inkjet printing has also driven the fast growth in the demand and sales of digital printing inks. It is expected that by 2030, the share of inkjet printing technology in the packaging printing sector will further increase, and the demand for its inks will continue to rise.
04
Asia Maintains a Leading Position
As the largest demand market for printing inks in the world, Asia not only holds a considerable market share but also maintains a high growth rate, with China and India performing particularly prominently. As Asia's share in the global printing ink industry continues to increase, it is expected that the region will remain the largest market through 2030. In contrast, although other regions currently have smaller market shares, they are showing relatively high growth rates due to low market penetration and increasing demand for packaging.
05
Market Share of Solvent-Based and Water-Based Inks Continues to Grow
Solvent-based inks, with their excellent printing performance and adaptability, have been widely used in the flexible packaging sector, and their usage has shown steady growth along with the continuous development of the flexible packaging industry. Water-based inks, known for their safety, non-toxicity, and environmental sustainability, are recognized as exemplars of safe and eco-friendly inks. They have become the preferred choice in corrugated box and folding carton packaging and are gradually gaining a foothold in the emerging digital flexible packaging market.