The graphic arts industry includes graphic arts print, often also termed commercial print (although including publication and specialty print in this overview), as well as newspaper print, prepress, and postpress companies. Since 2012, the number of printing establishments in Europe shows a steady decline—the effect of ongoing consolidation in the industry.
The data for Belgium is somewhat different, which is more an effect of sudden jolts in the data reported by the statistical offices, most likely due to restating reporting companies. An indicator is that only micro-enterprises show an increase in numbers, while the size classes for 10+ employees show a decline. Another indicator is that the uptick in the number of companies is not mirrored by respective employment and revenue increases. These fluctuations also show the limits of using data from statistical offices straight away.
After adjusting for non-productive companies, the number of enterprises declined on average by 0.9% from 2012 to 2022. The forecast expects the decline rate to accelerate, following the adjustments made in 2017 to 2019. With a 2.6% annual decline rate, the forecasted decline should be close to the European average. Overall, the number of graphic arts establishments is likely to decline from about 1,230 in 2012 to 915 by 2030.
Source: digitalprintexpert.de/2024
As in all countries, the majority of companies in the graphic arts industry in Belgium are small. More than 82% have less than 10 employees (even after adjusting for dormant or non-productive companies). Only 3.1% of all enterprises have more than 50 employees, which is noticeably below the European average.
There are other important print producers that are, statistically speaking, not part graphic arts industry. Those are folding carton, flexible packaging, corrugated, and label printing, plus photocopy services and in-house printing. This adds another 1,034 print enterprises in 2022—almost the same amount as graphic arts industry enterprises in Belgium.
Further Industry Data
This article is part of a bi-weekly series of pieces looking at print industry data in 24 European countries. The next article will feature Bulgaria. A European overview can be found here.
A breakout of all segments by country and timelines for the number of establishments, revenue, and employment in the graphic arts industry and other print segments can be found in the 2024 European Print Industry Sizing report. The report also features the number of companies by size class and country. The report can be purchased from the WhatTheyThink store.
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Source link : https://whattheythink.com/data/120298-sizing-printing-industry-europebelgium/
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Publish date : 2024-07-23 04:33:23
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