Market Report
The Future of Printed Signage in a Digital World to 2028
Increasing competition from digital signage impacts opportunities for print signage to 2028
Over the last five years printed signage has faced challenges amid the growth of digital signage. Although, opportunities do exist in key applications where printed signage remains a primary option. A new report from Smithers, The Future of Printed Signage in a Digital World to 2028, examines this market evolution.
Competition from digital signage has been increasing for many years as new electronic formats are introduced to expand digital’s potential. Due to increasingly competitive market conditions, the global market for printed signage declined by 2.2% CAGR in value (constant 2021 prices) to $40.9 billion by 2023, and by 1.4% CAGR in printed area to 10 billion square metres. Printed signage is forecast to show modest growth in the face of competition from digital signage: 0.2% CAGR in value (constant 2021 prices) to $41.4 billion and 0.7% CAGR in printed area to 10.4 billion square metres by 2028.
Market impact of major events
Over the last four years, the printed signage market has had to deal with challenges stemming from two major events that have had a significant impact on populations and economies around the world: the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The combination of the challenges of competition from digital signage and from the global economic impacts of these two major incidents has significantly reduced demand for printed signage from 2018 to 2023.In 2023, the global market for printed signage was 9.8% lower in value and 6.7% lower in printed area than that of the pre-pandemic market in 2019. Even by 2028, the market is forecast to still be 8.8% below the 2019 value and 3.5% below the printed area.
Printed signage in major geographies
Three geographic regions account for 86% of the global value (constant 2021 prices) in 2023: Asia, North America, and Western Europe. Asia was the largest regional market for printed signage in 2023 with a share of 38.4% of the global value. North America was the second largest market for printed signage with a share of 28.4%, with Western Europe third with 19.2%.All three regions saw a fall in the value of the printed signage market over the last five years; Asia by the lowest rate of less than 1% CAGR, North America at a higher rate of decline of just over 2% CAGR, while Western Europe shrank at the fastest rate of nearly 4.5% CAGR.
Of these three regions, Asia is the only one that is forecast to see any growth in value up to 2028, by 1.5% CAGR. The other two regions will continue to shrink in value over this time.
Indoor and outdoor signage
Indoor signage has the largest share of printed signage demand, accounting for a value in constant 2021 prices terms of $24.93 billion in 2023 and an area of 6.56 billion square metres. The shares of indoor signage of the overall printed signage market in 2023 are 61% of the value and 65% of the printed area, having increased from their 2018 shares of 58.5% and 63.5% respectively.The demand for outdoor signage decreased by a much faster rate than for indoor signage in 2020 in the wake of periodic lockdowns and the closure of restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues. The outdoor segment share by printed area dropped from 36.5% in 2018 to less than 33.5% in 2020, gradually increasing in 2021 and 2022 to its current level as restrictions ended and businesses and venues re-opened.
Over the next five years, demand for indoor signage is forecast to grow globally by 0.9% CAGR in area and 0.2% in value. The demand for outdoor signage will grow at a slower rate of 0.2% CAGR by area and 0.3% CAGR in value. As a result, there will be a small increase in the share of indoor signage to just less than 66% by 2028.