The new edition of the BPIF’s biennial UK Printing Facts & Figures report details how the industry is recovering from the “severe disruption” caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The federation’s analysis of Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showed that total turnover for the UK printing industry was nearly £13.75bn in 2022.
In the previous report, detailing the pandemic-impacted 2020, that figure was £11.6bn, while in pre-pandemic 2018 it was £14bn.
The BPIF is forecasting that the total turnover figure for 2023 will be £14.2bn.
The survey found that printing had a higher Gross Value Added (GVA) as a percentage of turnover than all other manufacturing industries, with productivity gains “well above national averages”.
Printing’s GVA was £6.5bn, compared with £5.5bn in the pre-pandemic survey, and £4.8bn in the pandemic impacted ONS survey of June 2021.
BPIF economist and Northern Ireland manager Kyle Jardine commented: “Certainly the GVA and productivity aspects are positive areas for the industry – less so the trend for digital substitution, how that accelerates when costs climb, and how that (along with other new or increasing costs of business) can affect underlying profitability of micro businesses (less than 10 employees) relatively more than the larger companies.”
He added: “However, it’s also important to highlight the importance, effectiveness and sustainability credentials of print.”
The regional breakdown resulted in the same top three by turnover: first was the South East (excluding London) with sales of £1.8bn, second was Yorkshire and the Humber with sales of £1.7bn, and third the East Midlands with sales of £1.67bn – with the gap narrowing considerably between the latter two regions and the South East.
The total number of companies has fallen by 2.7%, or 200 firms, to 7,200 compared with the 2020 figures.
Company closures and the ongoing shift to automated production techniques have seen total employment slip below 100,000 to 98,000 (2020: 105,000, pre-pandemic: 112,000).
The UK is the fifth-largest producer of printed products worldwide, and the second-biggest in Europe, behind Germany.
The positive trade balance was £285m, a big drop on the prior report figure of £580m.
“The Covid economic environment and post-Brexit transition period have been challenges for overseas trade,” the BPIF noted.
“Exports did improve by over 14% in 2022 – and the balance has shifted away from EU trade and towards non-EU trade.”
Books account for a big chunk of both exports and imports of printed matter.
The full report can be downloaded here.
The BPIF compiled the stats as part of its ongoing programme of representational activity directed toward influencing government agencies “and other organisations whose decisions impact on our member companies' interests”.
The federation said that UK Printing Facts & Figures would be used to educate politicians, parliamentarians and public servants “about the vital role print plays in today's economy”, and also encouraged its members to use the information in their own communications.
