The global flexible packaging market was worth around $160.1 billion in 2021 and is estimated to grow to about $206.1 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 4.3 percent over the forecast period, according to a new report from Zion Market Research.
Flexible packaging has gained substantial demand over the past few years as innovation in the packaging industry has seen a major impetus owing to changing consumer preferences and requirements in multiple end use applications across various industry verticals, according to the report.
Rising demand for packaging solutions, increasing sales of multiple products, increasing focus on sustainable packaging, increasing disposable income, the growing popularity of online sales channels, and the emergence of e-commerce are expected to be major factors influencing flexible packaging market growth through 2028.
The pandemic of 2020 resulted in a major change in consumer trends across the world owing to the drastic effects of widespread coronavirus infections. This sudden change in demand and supply impacted the overall packaging market and had a substantially adverse impact on demand for flexible packaging in 2020.
With lockdown restrictions being common across the world, manufacturing and supply chain activity came to a near halt due to a lack of labor and raw material. Closure of multiple sales and distribution channels also impacted the sales of flexible packaging throughout the year.
However, the flexible packaging market is expected to make a steady comeback in the post-pandemic era and is expected to surge as the world returns to normalcy and demand for flexible packaging through 2028 bolsters.
Increasing focus on waste management has substantially propelled the demand for sustainable products and since packaging waste is a major contributor to the global waste problem, the need to develop sustainable packaging is more prominent than it was ever before and hence this is expected to provide a lucrative opportunity to flexible packaging market players over the forecast period. Increasing research and development activity to develop eco-friendly sustainable packaging is expected to be a major trend for flexible packaging market growth through 2028 and flexible packaging market players are expected to capitalize on this trend over the forecast period to boost their profit numbers.
Plastic is and has been a major part of all kinds of packaging across the world and since plastic is a major harm to the environment its use is being restricted and limited across the world. These restrictions are expected to be major challenges for flexible packaging market growth through 2028. Increasingly stringent mandates about the use of plastic in packaging are anticipated to prove to be a major challenge for multiple flexible packaging companies across the world.
