The global luxury packaging market is poised to see continued growth, according to Smithers report The Future of Luxury Packaging to 2024, but at a slower rate than in recent years.
Valued at $15.38bn in 2019, the luxury packaging market grew by nearly 4% last year compared with 2018 figures. “Demand for luxury packaging across the world continues to increase, driven by the rising popularity of premium goods in sectors such as cosmetics and fragrances, alcoholic drinks, and watches and jewellery,” explains the consultancy, adding that annual value sales growth is forecast to be in the 3% range to 2024. Sales are projected to reach $17.83bn by that same year.
Smithers points out that growth will stem from novel packaging solutions coming from material suppliers and designers in areas that include the corporations’ sustainable development initiatives; ensuring safe transport of goods for e-commerce sales and innovations in the area of “consumer interaction via smart packaging components”.
While material usage in luxury packaging is “heavily skewed” towards paperboard, glass, plastic and metal, paperboard saw the strongest value sales in 2019 at more than $6bn, with glass coming in second place, followed by plastic, notes Smithers. Plastic showed the highest increase in 2018, (+5.7% in value and +5% in volume), but unsurprisingly, its growth is expected to slow as are sales of paperboard, glass and metal, which are forecast to see increases below the 3% marker to 2024.
Smithers notes that the market’s evolution is, of course, dependent on the health of the global economy and therefore of luxury goods sales. Given China’s importance to the premium market and current disruptions in manufacturing and retail sales related to the Corona virus, the extent of the impact on luxury packaging suppliers remains to be seen.
Smithers provides strategic and technical consulting, testing, intelligence and events to help clients gain market insights, identify opportunities, evaluate product performance and manage compliance. www.smithers.com
