PS labels show East European growth

Rapidly developing tastes for all things Western in Eastern Europe and Russia is creating a boom market for self-adhesive labels - four times greater than their growth in Western Europe.

According to a new report from FINAT, the European self-adhesive labeling trade association. Western-style supermarkets, which are replacing traditional corner-shop outlets, are fuelling demand for labels that have 'eye appeal' in the new self-service atmosphere that is sweeping Eastern Europe.

FINAT's president David Harrisson, commented: ‘While in 2004 the use of self-adhesive labels grew overall by 4.9 per cent, Eastern European growth was tremendous. In 2004 it was up by a massive 19 per cent - four times as much - and shows no signs of wavering,’ he said.

‘That tremendous growth is, admittedly, from an area where costs and per capita income is much lower than in the West, and where modern labeling use is only just starting to come into its own. But compare the expansion in the use of self-adhesive labels to other parts of Europe: In Scandinavia it barely moved - demand last year was up by just 0.7 per cent - while in the UK and Ireland it expanded by 3.1 per cent, by two per cent in Central Europe and by 4.5 per cent in Southern Europe.’

These statistics are reinforced by the latest label trend figures for the first half of 2005. On an annual basis, Eastern Europe's demand grew by 7.3 per cent, but elsewhere the story was different. Southern Europe's demand increased by 2.7 per cent, Central Europe registered 3.7 per cent growth, while the UK and Ireland saw a static market and Scandinavia was down by 2.1 per cent. The Eastern European market share of the overall European market for self-adhesive labels has grown from 9.9 per cent in 2002 to 12.6 per cent in 2004.