Via the following link you can download the Executive Summary of the 7th drupa Global Trends Report in your chosen language (English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Chinese): Executive Summaries 7th drupa Global Trends Report. The charts and infographics depicted in the Summary are also available for download (please scroll down).
The complete report is available for editorial purposes upon request. We kindly ask you to contact the drupa 2021 press team.
The results, from a survey conducted before the outbreak of the corona virus and the postponement of drupa to April 2021, show a global industry that remained positive but reflected more challenging global economic conditions. Packaging and Functional market sectors are better placed than Publishing and Commercial. North America remains buoyant but confidence has slipped in Europe and across all other regions. Developing regions are held back by concerns about political instability and corruption, while developed regions are nervous of an inevitable cyclical economic downturn. There is constant pressure on margins but increasingly the better companies counter this by continual innovation. Investment plans remain strong, as printers and suppliers all recognise the need to remain competitive.
As always, conditions vary between markets and regions. The Packaging market sector thrives best with Functional, Commercial and Publishing following in that order. Indeed, an increasing number of Commercial and Publishing printers are attempting to diversify into the other two markets. Financial measures confirm these trends with margins struggling in all market sectors, but Publishing showing the clearest evidence of active decline in revenues.