According to a new report by UK-based researcher Smithers, the worldwide market for labels will be worth $56.4 billion in 2030, up 3.7% CAGR from 2024. Alongside this, the release-liners market is seen leaning toward film-based substrates due to their increase in sustainable options, slowing the growth of market frontrunners glassine and supercalendered kraft paper.

The new report – The Future of Labels and Release Liners to 2030  – tracks the technological developments of the market over the next five years, driven by increasing sustainability, cost reduction and enhancing value. It quantifies current and future market volume and value by type, print process, end-use application, and region.

Other report statistics include:

Digital printing is the fastest growing technology for label printing with a CAGR of 11.9% between 2025 and 2030.

Flexography will still dominate the printing method for labels with a 39.4% market share in 2030, up from 38.7% this year.

A volume of 99.1 billion sq meters of labels will be converted in 2030, up from about 70 billion sq meters in 2020.

Regionally, Asia will have 48.8% of the global volume of labels in 2025. High growth rates relative to other regions mean that to 2030 its share will steadily increase to 52.9%.