Interpack, Packaging Potent Economic Factors

Interpack and the packaging industry are potent economic factors worldwide. In Germany, packaging on average makes up some 2% of total product value. In packaging-intensive industries such as the food sector, this figure can be as high as 7%-8%.

In Germany, for example, the 1996 production volume for packaging was some DM 39 billion. These figures are certainly typical of any industrialized country. But the packaging industry is a significant economic factor in emerging economies and developing countries as well.

Packaging machine engineering has long since developed into a high-tech industry with worldwide production of more than DM 30 billion. With a world market share of roughly one third, Germany is the undisputed "export world champion" in packaging machinery. More than 80% of German production is exported.

The same holds true for the confectionery machinery industry: internationality is a way of life. Total German production amounts to DM 850 million — confectionery machinery comprises DM 514 million (1997) and confectionery packaging machinery DM 350 million — of which 80%-90% is exported. More than 40% of all exports go to non-European countries.