Printing SA presented two of the industry’s most highly anticipated research reports, developed to provide critical insights and data that will shape the future of the sector. The event was held at Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa. Africa Print, Sign Africa and Modern Marketing were media partners.
The Salaries and Skills Benchmarking Research Report was commissioned by Printing SA through Remchannel and fully funded by the FP&M SETA. For the first time in the industry’s history, Printing SA now have comprehensive data that accurately reflects the labour market across the printing, packaging, signage, and visual communications sectors.
This groundbreaking research provides valuable insights into remuneration benchmarks across key industry occupations, employee benefits and compensation structures, and salary increase trends and workforce dynamics across the sector. It was presented by Gizelle Erwee, head: REMchannel at REMchannel.
The second report, commissioned by Printing SA in 2025 through BMi and also fully funded by the FP&M SETA, provides an in-depth analysis of the current state of the printing industry in South Africa. This study explores the size and structure of the market, identifies key industry players, and examines the major segments shaping the sector, including commercial printing, packaging, labelling, and digital printing. Together, these reports offer a powerful snapshot of where the industry stands today and where it is heading. It was presented by Shaun Henning, head researcher at BMi.
The information, namely the hard figures, statistics and salary information is sensitive and not available to the public. While Printing SA members will have access to the research report, there are certain sections, namely the remuneration benchmarking information, which will be handled confidentially.
BMi Report
Industry growth has been historically inconsistent over the last 5-6 years, which can be attributed to COVID in 2020, a depressed local economy (slow GDP growth, high unemployment etc.), increasing low-priced imports, shifts in consumer behaviour and preference towards e-commerce and online content, as well as other factors such as load shedding.
In 2024, the South African printing industry’s contribution to the country’s GDP was 1.7%. In terms of printing category contribution to total industry size, commercial printing was the largest, followed by paper based packaging, flexible packaging, digital printing and labelling.
The forecast for SA’s printing industry is that more consistent value growth will be recorded over the next five years. The positive and more consistent industry value growth is attributed to the belief that South Africa’s printing industry experienced its most challenging time between 2018-2025, and that the inconsistency will be less pronounced going forward.
It is however important to note the research was conducted before the Iran conflict, and the challenges remain prevalent (the local industry has learned to adjust to these challenges), and that inflation must also be considered.
South African Trends And Drivers
The SA printing market in 2024-2025 is reshaping around shorter runs, faster turnarounds and cost discipline. Industry players report a steady shift to digital printing to cut makeready time and attract work with variable data, while legacy volumes continue to decline as readers and marketers digitise. Local paper supply constraints have increased, intensifying margin pressure and prompting changes in operation.
E-commerce and online content keep expanding the share of spend that bypasses physical printing.
AI, automation and digitisation are streamlining workflows and reducing errors, which strengthens the case for on-demand print. The same tools let brands replace physical printing with digital alternatives.
Imports and post-COVID behaviour shape demand. Industry commentary highlights cheaper imports undermining parts of the local value chain, while many consumers, students and workers remain more digitally native after the pandemic’s remote-learning and hybrid-work shock, cementing habits that reduce routine office and promotional printing while priortising premium, functional and packaging print.
Global Printing Industry Trends
The global printing industry in 2024-2025 is reportedly also pivoting toward shorter runs, faster turnarounds and automation, with confidence rebounding post-pandemic and capital investment picking up around the 2024 drupa cycle.
Packaging remains the growth engine. Smithers estimates package printing globally to expand, with flexography alone highly valued. This tilt reflects resilient FMCG demand, e-commerce logistics, and brand investments in labels, corrugated and flexible packaging (areas where print retains strategic value despite media digitisation).
New technology remains prevalent. On one side, inkjet and toner continue to win work that needs personalisation, versioning and rapid SLA-compliance while cloud-delivered managed print and analytics are maturing as enterprises nationalise fleets for hybrid work. On the other, hybrid-work and digital content permanently reduced office/transactional volumes, forcing vendors to lean into production print, services and software.
Adjacent innovation in 3D printing (additive manufacturing) is accelerating. While additive manufacturing doesn’t replace graphic print, its growth signals broader industrial digitalisation.
South African Unemployment Estimates (Source: Who Owns Whom, Ricoh, MFG-Outlook)
Direct vs indirect unemployment: while roughly 35,000-45,000 work directly in printing, the industry is estimated to support an additional 60,000 indirect jobs.
Decline in employment: the industry has experienced a long-term, two decade decline, with employment in printing and publishing dropping from approximately 90,000 in 2016 to about 70,000 by 2019, and to between 35,000 and 40,000 in 2025.
The shift is largely due to the rise of digital media, which has reduced demand for for traditional newspapers and magazines, while growth in packaging and labels has provided some stability.
Over 85% of employment in the printing and publishing sector is concentrated in three provinces: Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Emerging Industry Opportunities
– Cost cutting is essential to remain competitive.
– Industry is struggling so much that it is tough to know where opportunities lie.
– Industry needs to improve and put systems in place to compete against imports.
– Diversifying in new markets with new products is essential.
Potential lies in 3D printing, advanced digital printing, and specialised print segments.
Skills
Skill shortages weaken quality, slow lead times and reduce margins. AI will increasingly be replacing certain roles, adding uncertainty to workforce planning. Flat sales discourage hiring, worsening the skills gap.
Rapid tech change makes current skills quickly outdated. Customer relationships suffer as teams spend more time fixing internal issues.
Overall Recommendations
Consider shifting from commodity printing to value-added services, focusing on packaging, labelling, short-run customised print, security print, and integrated print-plus-digital solutions where price competition from imports is less severe.
Adopt hybrid print and digital business models, integrating online ordering, variable data printing, personalised marketing solutions, and digital content services to remain relevant as communication shifts online.
Invest in automation and operational efficiency to reduce production costs, improve turnaround times, and remain competitive against cheap imports and large offshore producers.
Expand into export and regional African markets, leveraging geographic proximity and service advantages where local responsiveness and logistics can outperform overseas suppliers.
Embed sustainability and circular practices, including recycled materials, energy efficiency, and environmentally compliant processes, to meet growing client procurement requirements and differentiate locally produced print.
Strengthen industry collaboration and skills renewal, ensuring companies adopt modern technologies, attract younger talent, and continuously upgrade workforce capacities.
PRINTING SA
+27 11 287 1160
info@printingsa.org
http://www.printingsa.org
