Smithers Pira's Future of Global Flexible Packaging to 2020 report, published in October 2015, projected global flexible packaging demand at $210 billion for 2015 growing at an average annual rate of 3 percent to reach $248 billion by 2020. The consumer flexible packaging segment alone was valued at $91.7 billion for 2015, forecast to grow 4.4 percent annually to $114 billion by 2020.
Consumer flexible packaging tonnage was estimated at 26.2 million metric tons in 2015, projected to reach 31.7 million metric tons by 2020 at a 3.8 percent average growth rate. Food applications dominated end-use demand, representing nearly three-quarters of consumer flexible packaging consumption globally.
China ranked as the largest national market by tonnage at approximately 6.07 million metric tons, with Asia accounting for 40 percent of global consumer flexible packaging volume. Asia was also projected as the fastest-growing region at 6.6 percent annual volume growth, with India and China leading national growth rates at 9.4 and 6.9 percent respectively through 2020.
PMMI's separate 2015 Flexible Packaging Market Assessment reported the U.S. flexible packaging industry approaching $32.7 billion in 2015, with 68 percent of interviewed end-user companies planning equipment purchases or modifications to accommodate flexible formats over coming investment cycles.
For machinery suppliers, the 2015 market data reinforced regional investment priorities: Asia-Pacific capacity expansion for barrier film and pouch production, Western markets focused on shorter runs, sustainability-driven material changes, and hybrid analog-digital print platforms serving versioned SKU proliferation.