Britain Second In €15BN European Merchandise Market
The promotional product industry is booming according to the first research project of its kind investigating the European market. An analysis of expenditure on advertising over the past few years has shown that from year to year, companies in Europe are spending more money on promotional items. In 2018, €15 billion was invested in promotional products in Europe.
Explaining the project, Michael Freter, managing director of Promotional Product Services Institute, said: “It all started when a meeting of industry CEOs and membership associations from across Europe came to the conclusion that there was no reliable indication of the size and structure of this industry on a Europe-wide level.“These like-minded companies and industry bodies, including the BPMA, decided to collaborate and invest in the first research project of its kind.”
The research shows that Great Britain is in second place in the top 10 with its expenditure on promotional products. The research also discovered that companies here invest €1.76bn in promotional items. In Britain, 30% of the expenditure is carried out by small companies with up to nine employees, with 23% accounted for by companies in the size category from 250 employees. In a country comparison, the per capita expenditure of €54 is substantially below the average. Of this, €11 per person in employment goes on textiles, with €9 on electronics and €8 on office items. Commenting on the results, Jon Birrell, CEO of the BPMA, said: “With all the worry and concern over Brexit, it’s encouraging to see the importance of the UK market in relation to the rest of Europe.
I have also been delighted to hear some success stories from UK suppliers seeing significant growth in exports.” The highest-selling countries are Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Sweden. In 2018, the companies in these top 10 countries in Europe invested just under €12bn in promotional products, making up 80% of the total European promotional product market.
To view the full research results in more detail, head over to the BPMA website www.bpma.co.uk, log in and go to the Resource Centre. If you have forgotten your login details, don’t worry, just call the BPMA on 01372 371184 to confirm your member username or reset your password.
