Demand for packaging machinery is said to grow by 4.9 percent annually over the coming three years, according to a forecast by Ucima Research Department. This growth will be driven by the cosmetics industry which will be up 6.6 percent.

According to the forecast study, the 4.9 percent annual growth will see the packaging machinery market grow to an estimated Euro 40.3 billion by 2018. Key growth areas will be Asia, Africa, and Oceania, all up by 7.1 percent, followed by Latin America up by 5.6 percent.

Wrapping machines are thought to see the biggest growth at 5.6 percent over the next three years, followed by filling machines at 5.2 percent and labelling machines at 5 percent. The EU will see a 3 percent growth margin to Euro 10.7bn, driven by the 4.8 percent growth in the cosmetics industry.

Italian packaging machinery exports are thought to outperform the world’s averages. Indeed, Italian exports will report the biggest growth percentages in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Peru, Indonesia, Malaysia, Algeria, Turkey and Iran.