THE SPANISH PACKAGING INDUSTRY IS SHOWING OFF ITS CHEST

The Spanish packaging industry is showing excellent results this year despite the pandemic. These results vindicate the company as a key and essential sector for the development of any economic activity, as well as a catalyst for innovation in the service of sustainability, its great challenge for the future. With a turnover of 29,750 million euros in 2020, the packaging sector represents 4.37% of the turnover of the total Spanish industry and accounts for 2.65% of GDP.

Entitled ‘Packaging, innovation engine of industries’, the Hispack study – prepared by the consulting firm marketAAD – photographs and categorizes the economic magnitudes of the sector and points out the main lines of development in which its companies are working. Today, packaging is facing supply challenges and increasing raw material prices and rising production costs. At the same time, it is undergoing an intense transformation driven by increased demand for sustainable packaging in a scenario of changing regulatory frameworks and greater consumer eco-awareness.

In Spain, the packaging sector has 3,180 companies -mostly SMEs-, employing 113,000 people, which represents 5.16% of employment in the industrial sector. By subsector of activity, the largest number of firms corresponds to manufacturers of plastic containers and packaging materials (737), followed by paper and cardboard (660), packaging machinery (634) and wooden containers (631) and manufacturers of labeling, coding and marking equipment (317). The list is completed by manufacturers of metal containers; glass containers; cork stoppers; and other packaging materials.

In terms of geographical distribution, Catalonia accounts for almost 30% of the companies in the sector. Nearly 40% of the companies are distributed among the Valencian Community (18%), the Community of Madrid (10.31%), Murcia (6.4%) and Andalusia (5.16%).