Pharmaceutical Packaging Market Analysis By Material (Plastics & Polymers, Paper & Paperboard, Glass, Aluminum Foil), By Product (Primary, Secondary, Tertiary), By End-use And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025

Industry Insights

The global pharmaceutical packaging market size was valued at USD 77.65 billion in 2016 and is expected to witness substantial growth owing to the rising demand for pharmaceuticals from emerging economies. These products have gained a lot of importance since the past few years as they aid in protecting medicines and drugs against unfavorable external elements such as biological contamination, physical damage, degradation, and counterfeiting.

Emerging markets such as India, China, Brazil, Russia, and Turkey are providing an excellent growth opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry. The rise in outsourcing of pharmaceutical manufacturing to emerging economies is expected to open new growth avenues for the market. The stability of these economies coupled with favorable government policies is expected to have a positive impact on the pharmaceutical packaging market demand.

Germany pharmaceutical packaging market, by material, 2014 - 2025 (USD Billion)

The industry in Germany is expected to grow on account of rising innovation in new pharmaceutical packaging products. The presence of major manufacturers and radical changes in manufacturing technologies is expected to boost market growth over the forecast period.

Drug delivery devices are gaining popularity owing to rising trends of home care and self-administration. The rising demand for innovative products such as parenteral containers and pre fillable inhalers is expected to further augment market demand.

The pharmaceutical packaging industry has to balance complex considerations such as developing good designs and communicating with customers. Manufacturers should also look into pressing concerns that include counterfeiting, patient compliance, drug integrity and balancing child-resistance & accessibility for the elderly. These concerns have resulted in increasing costs of packaging for pharmaceutical products. The costs involved in the development of new products are also expected to increase the packaging price of these pharmaceuticals.

The threat posed by counterfeit products has adversely affected the demand for pharmaceutical packaging products. Worldwide sales of counterfeit medicines were USD 75 billion in 2015 according to an estimate published by the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest in the United States of America (USA).

Material Insights

The major materials used in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical packaging are plastics & polymers, paper & paperboard, glass and aluminum foil. Plastics & polymers are the preferred material as they are easy to handle and lightweight in nature. They are majorly used for bags, bottles, cartridges, dry powder, metered dose inhalers, nebulizers and pre fillable syringes.

The demand for glass pharmaceutical packaging is expected to decrease over the forecast period owing to rising penetration of plastics & polymers. Handling problems and high costs of glass manufacturing have resulted in manufacturers looking at other alternatives. The rising number of plastic production facilities in Asia Pacific is responsible for decreasing popularity of glass.

Paper & paperboard pharmaceutical packaging has been boosted by the introduction of eco-friendly paper products. Industry participants involved in paper manufacturing were faced with a grave situation due to ill effects of non-biodegradable materials. The rising popularity of degradable paper is expected to play a major role in driving demand for this material over the forecast period.

Product Insights

The products in the pharmaceutical packaging market have been segmented into primary, secondary and tertiary products. The demand for primary products is generally high in the market as they are in direct contact with the medicines. Secondary and tertiary products are essential to the market but their consumption is expected to remain subdued due to less volume involved in the shipping of the final product.

The primary pharmaceutical packaging product category comprises plastic bottles, caps and closures, parenteral containers, blister packs, pre fillable inhalers, pouches and medication tubes. Parenteral containers and prefillable inhalers are the fastest growing products in the market owing to their increasing application in diabetes and lung related infection treatment. The growing demand for parenteral containers in oral drugs and over-the-counter medicines is expected to augment market demand.

Secondary pharmaceutical packaging is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.5% from 2017 to 2025. The segment comprises prescription containers and accessories. The demand is expected to grow rapidly on account of increasing consumption of primary pharmaceutical packaging products.

End-use Insights

Pharmaceutical manufacturing is expected to dominate the overall end-use segment owing to the presence of in-house packaging facilities in the manufacturing locations of industry participants. The location where pharmaceuticals are produced has a profound impact on the end-use consumption of packaging products owing to which pharmaceutical manufacturing is expected to remain the major end-use over the forecast period. 

Global pharmaceutical packaging market, by end-use, 2016 (%)

Retail pharmacy is expected to experience decreased demand owing to rising number of e-commerce portals selling medicines. The demand shift is expected to impact the market shares of retail and institutional pharmacies in developed regions. Institutional pharmacies are expected to remain the major end-use in under developed countries of Asia Pacific and Africa due to lack of internet penetration in these regions.

Contract packaging is the fastest growing end-use segment at a CAGR of 9.0% from 2017 to 2025 on account of rising number of manufacturing facilities in Asia Pacific region. Increasing efforts by manufacturers to reduce costs and maximize product development is expected to boost this end-use segment over the forecast period.

Regional Insights

North America held the largest regional share of over 40% in the market in 2016. The demand in this region is driven by U.S. where the number of new product launches with specialized packaging needs is growing rapidly. The presence of major pharmaceutical manufacturers such as Pfizer and Novartis is driving market growth in this region.

The European market is expected to grow at a moderate pace on account of slowdown in this region. The market in Western Europe is expected to witness rapid growth on account of regulatory pressure concerning packaging of medicines and rising demand for anti-counterfeit packaging.

The presence of diverse drug industries in China, India, and Japan is driving the demand for products in Asia Pacific. The region is benefitting from the presence of a large number of conglomerates manufacturing varied medicines. The growing generics manufacturing coupled with a rise in contract packaging are anticipated to boost market growth over the forecast period.

Competitor Insights

The industry is highly fragmented owing to the presence of a large number of big and small manufacturers. The major manufacturers in the market are Amcor Ltd., Gerresheimer and Schott AG. The other industry participants include Becton Dickinson & Company, Aptar Group, Capsugel, Owens-Illinois, Berry Plastics Group, Westrock Company and COMAR LLC.

The competitive environment in this market is marked by rapid advances in new product development, technological innovation, and integration. Companies are also investing heavily in the supply chain of these products as the tradeoff between the type of material used and the transportation costs involved has a huge impact on the profits. Industry participants are entering into long-term contracts with pharmaceutical manufacturers to reduce dependency on capital investment.

Report Scope

Segments covered in the report

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional & country levels and provides an analysis on the industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the pharmaceutical packaging market on the basis of material, product, end-use and region:

• Material Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)

  • Plastics & Polymers

    • HDPE

    • Polyester

    • LDPE

    • PVC

  • Paper & Paperboard

  • Glass

  • Aluminum Foil

  • Others

• Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)

  • Primary Packaging

    • Plastic Bottles

    • Caps & Closures

    • Parenteral Containers

    • Blister Packs

    • Prefillable Inhalers

    • Pouches

    • Medication Tubes

    • Others

  • Secondary Packaging

    • Prescription Containers

    • Pharmaceutical Packaging Accessories

  • Tertiary Packaging

• End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)

  • Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

  • Contract Packaging

  • Retail Pharmacy

  • Institutional Pharmacy

  • Others

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2014 - 2025)

  • North America

    • U.S.

  • Europe

    • Germany

    • France

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • India

    • Japan

  • Central & South Africa

    • Brazil

  • Middle East & Africa