This report gives a comprehensive view of the global flexible packaging industry, identifying current and future trends and their implications.
Key facts:
- In 2025, flexible packaging materials will reach $290.95 billion
- Flexible packaging consumption volume is forecast to grow at an annual rate of 4.6% to 2030.
The flexible packaging industry has benefited from the drive to replace traditional materials with lightweight, cost-effective and high-performance materials in various markets. Increasing environmental concerns and regulatory pressures are driving brand owners to consider alternative solutions for difficult-to-recycle, flexible plastic packaging; including fibre-based packaging and more recyclable, mono-material, flexible plastic packaging.
This report defines flexible packaging as the manufacture, supply and conversion of those materials or substrates (plastics, paper and aluminium foil) that can be used, either separately or in combination, for primary retail food packaging and for non-food applications (such as beverages, pet food, medical items, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, toiletries and household care) and for other non-food packaging (such as tobacco).
Key Questions:
- How are brand owners approaching potential transitions from plastic- to paper-based packaging solutions?
- What current sustainability trends are implicating flexible packaging use?
- How are developing economies responding to flexible packaging trends compared to advanced economies?
- Why has flexible packaging benefited from replacing traditional packaging formats?
This report is essential to:
- Packaging raw material suppliers
- Packaging converters and manufacturers
- Retailers and brand owners
Table of Contents
Executive summary
Introduction and methodology
- Introduction
- Objectives
- Scope
- Material types
- Packaging types
- End use markets
- Geographic markets
- Definition
- Data
- Methodology
- Glossary of terms
- List of abbreviations
- Exchange rates
Industry structure, supply chains and key market drivers and trends
- Flexible packaging industry structure
- Competitive landscape
- Flexible packaging converters
- Flexible packaging substrate suppliers
- Flexible packaging industry supply chains
- Flexible plastic packaging industry supply chain
- Flexible paper packaging industry supply chain
- Flexible foil packaging industry supply chain
- Key market drivers and trends
- Overview
- Economic, social and demographic influences on packaging demand
- Sustainable and eco-friendly packaging
- Flexible packaging challenging rigid packaging
- Flexible plastic packaging challenged by paper-based solutions
- Rising penetration of modern retailing
- Packaging regulation
- Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)
- European plastic taxation systems
- Flexible packaging recycling
Technological innovations
- Introduction
- Recyclable mono-material packaging film solutions
- Mono-material flexible packaging product developments
- Barrier solutions for mono-material flexible plastic packaging
- Smart packaging
- Artificial intelligence in the plastics industry
- Chemical recycling
- Bio-based flexible plastic packaging solutions
- Flexible packaging plastics with PCR content
- Barrier developments for paper-based packaging
Flexible packaging by sector and material
- Overview
- Plastics
- Plastic bags and pouches
- Stand-up pouches
- Doyen (also called round bottom or Doypack)
- K-style bottom gusset pouches
- Corner, plough or folded bottom
- Other consumer flexible plastic packaging products
- Tray lidding film
- Forming webs
- Wrapping film
- Blister pack base webs
- Packaging foils
- Foil laminates
- Foil lidding
- Blister packaging
- Foil bags, sachets and pouches
- Flexible paper packaging
Flexible packaging by substrate
- Overview
- Plastics
- Biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP)
- Cast polypropylene (CPP)
- Biaxially oriented polyamide (BOPA, OPA)
- Biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET)
- Polyethylene (PE)
- Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
- Ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH)
- Regenerated cellulose film (RCF)
- Aluminium foil
- Paper
Flexible packaging by end-use sector
- Overview
- Fruit and vegetables
- Fresh meat, fish and poultry
- Frozen food
- Chilled food
- Chilled ready meals (retort food)
- Dried food
- Savoury snack food
- Confectionery
- Baked goods
- Cheese/dairy products
- Hot beverages
- Other (human) food
- Beverages
- Pet food
- Cosmetics and toiletries
- Pharmaceuticals and medical
- Tobacco
- Other non-food markets
Flexible packaging by geographic region
- Overview
- Western Europe
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
- UK
- Other Western Europe
- Eastern Europe
- Poland
- Russia
- Other Eastern Europe
- North America
- US
- Other North America
- South & Central America
- Brazil
- Other South & Central America
- Asia-Pacific
- China
- India
- Japan
- Other Asia-Pacific
- Middle East & Africa
- Turkey
- Other Middle East & Africa
FIGURES
- Global consumer and industrial flexible packaging market value by material, 2020, 2025 and 2030 ($ million)
- Global consumer flexible packaging: percentage share of consumption by material, 2025
- Global flexible packaging: percentage share of consumption by end use, 2025
- Global flexible packaging: percentage share of consumption by geographic region, 2025
- European average annual flexible packaging prices, 2020-25 (Euro/tonne)
- Flexible plastic packaging industry supply chain
- The flexible plastic packaging industry supply chain
- Flexible paper packaging industry supply chain
- Aluminium foil packaging industry supply chain
TABLES
- Global flexible packaging industry; summary of selected mergers and acquisitions, 2020-25
- Global flexible packaging market; leading flexible packaging converters, 2025
- Global flexible packaging substrate suppliers: leading substrate suppliers, 2025
- Flexible packaging, summary of key market drivers and trends to 2030
- GDP growth rates by region, percentage change per annum, 2020-25 and annual average growth rate forecast for 2026-30
- PPWR: mandatory recyclate use quotas in accordance with Article 7
- Flexible packaging: summary of technology developments to 2030
- Summary of mono-material packaging film developments 2020-25
- Mono-material plastic packaging product developments, 2020-25
- Barrier solutions; sustainable barrier solutions for mono-material flexible plastic packaging, 2020-25
- Chemical recycling: a summary of selected projects, 2025
- Barrier developments for paper-based packaging products, 2025
- Global flexible packaging consumption, by sector and, by material, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Flexible plastic packaging products: sales, by region, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Flexible packaging foils: sales, by region, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Flexible paper packaging: sales, by region, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Global consumer flexible packaging consumption, by substrate, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- For each substrate:
- Consumer flexible packaging consumption, by region, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- List of substrates:
- Plastics
- BOPP
- Cast PP
- BOPA/OPA
- NOPET
- PE
- PVC
- EVOH
- RCF
- Aluminium foil
- Paper
- Typical high barrier aluminium foil-based structures
- Global consumer flexible packaging consumption, by end-use sector, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- For each end-use sector:
- Consumer flexible packaging consumption, by region, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- List of end-use sectors:
- Fruit and vegetables
- Fresh meat, fish and poulty
- Frozen food
- Chilled food
- Chilled ready meals
- Dried food
- Savoury snack food
- Confectionery
- Baked goods
- Cheese/dairy products
- Hot beverages
- Other (human) food
- Beverages
- Pet food
- Cosmetisc and toiletries
- Pharmaceuticals and medical
- Tobacco
- Other non-food markets
- Global consumer flexible packaging consumption, by region, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- Global consumer and industrial flexible packaging market value, by region, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Global flexible packaging market value by sector and material, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Western Europe: economic and demographic data, 2020-2030
- Western Europe: consumer flexible packaging consumption, by national market, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- Western Europe: flexible packaging sales, by national market, sector and material, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Western Europe: consumer flexible packaging consumption by end-use sector and substrate, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- For each country:
- Economic and demographic data, 2020-2030
- Flexible packaging sales by sector and material, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Consumer flexible packaging consumption by substrate, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- Consumer flexible packaging consumption by end-use sector, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- List of countries:
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
- UK
- Other Western Europe
- Eastern Europe: economic and demographic data, 2020-2030
- Eastern Europe: consumer flexible packaging consumption, by national market, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- Eastern Europe: flexible packaging sales, by national market, sector and material, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Eastern Europe: consumer flexible packaging consumption by end-use sector and substrate, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- For each country:
- Economic and demographic data, 2020-2030
- Flexible packaging sales by sector and material, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Consumer flexible packaging consumption by substrate, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- Consumer flexible packaging consumption by end-use sector, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- List of countries:
- Polan
- Russia
- Other Eastern Europe
- North America: economic and demographic data, 2020-2030
- North America: consumer flexible packaging consumption, by national market, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- North America: flexible packaging sales, by national market, sector and material, 2020-30 ($ million)
- North America: consumer flexible packaging consumption by end-use sector and substrate, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- For each country:
- Economic and demographic data, 2020-2030
- Flexible packaging sales by sector and material, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Consumer flexible packaging consumption by substrate, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- Consumer flexible packaging consumption by end-use sector, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- List of countries:
- US
- Other North America
- South & Central America: economic and demographic data, 2020-2030
- South & Central America: consumer flexible packaging consumption, by national market, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- South & Central America: flexible packaging sales, by national market, sector and material, 2020-30 ($ million)
- South & Central America: consumer flexible packaging consumption by end-use sector and substrate, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- For each country:
- Economic and demographic data, 2020-2030
- Flexible packaging sales by sector and material, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Consumer flexible packaging consumption by substrate, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- Consumer flexible packaging consumption by end-use sector, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- List of countries:
- Brazil
- Other South & Central America
- Asia-Pacific: economic and demographic data, 2020-2030
- Asia-Pacific: consumer flexible packaging consumption, by national market, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- Asia-Pacific: flexible packaging sales, by national market, sector and material, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Asia-Pacific: consumer flexible packaging consumption by end-use sector and substrate, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- For each country:
- Economic and demographic data, 2020-2030
- Flexible packaging sales by sector and material, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Consumer flexible packaging consumption by substrate, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- Consumer flexible packaging consumption by end-use sector, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- List of countries:
- China
- India
- Japan
- Other Asia-Pacific
- Middle East & Africa: economic and demographic data, 2020-2030
- Middle East & Africa: consumer flexible packaging consumption, by national market, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- Middle East & Africa: flexible packaging sales, by national market, sector and material, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Middle East & Africa: consumer flexible packaging consumption by end-use sector and substrate, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- For each country:
- Economic and demographic data, 2020-2030
- Flexible packaging sales by sector and material, 2020-30 ($ million)
- Consumer flexible packaging consumption by substrate, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- Consumer flexible packaging consumption by end-use sector, 2020-30 ('000 tonnes)
- List of countries:
- Turkey
- Other Middle East & Africa