The global textile market is, in a word, enormous. Grand View Research puts the market size at $1.837.27 trillion in 2023, with an expected compound annual growth rate of 7.4% to 2030. Printing textiles is in itself a sizeable market.
Breaking that down further, Future Market Insights places the global digital textile printing market at $2.99 billion in 2023, anticipating a CAGR of 12.1% to 2034, reaching $8.897 billion. That number seems to be in the center of most estimates. It’s thought that digital printing of textiles is approximately 5% of the total textile printing market, as dye-based printing and screen remain major processes.
However, a lot of the attention is on the digital printing side, as it is growing the fastest. There are many drivers pushing textile sales up – new and improved hardware, software and inks, as well as environmental, production and efficiency benefits.
During COVID, digital textile printing spiked in apparel, signage and other products, and while there was a slowdown after the pandemic subsided due to overcapacity in the market, industry executives report that growth has resumed across all applications.
Micol Gamba, product marketing and textile director for EFI, said that according to WTiN, the volume of textile digitally printed fabrics grew in 2023, but this was not reflected in units sold because of a still weak global economic recovery and uncertainty that led many companies to delay their investments.
“While 2024 still seems a slow year, growth is forecasted from 2025,” Gamba reported. “On the other hand, the lack of workers specialized in textile analog printing is reaching the highest recorded level, especially in EMEA, and this will open up a potential opportunity for further digital adoption.”
Ilan Elad, president of Kornit Americas, noted that digital textile printing hit a peak during the COVID era.
“Everything was moving to on-demand and e-commerce, and the second COVID ended, people wanted to go out,” Elad said. “We saw a huge drop in demand, or rather overcapacity. Things have gone back to pre-pandemic levels as demand has grown each year, and we are seeing a bit more movement in the market but we are cautious. We are starting to see movement, as the runs are becoming shorter and retailers look to replenish. People are buying much smarter than they were.”
Kitt Jones, business development and co-creation manager, Roland DGA, reported that Roland DGA is seeing growth in all areas of digital printing, including digital textile.
“We feel this is due to a growing demand for rapid customization and on-demand printing as well as innovations in printing technology,” Jones said. “Technological advancements such as improved printheads, higher resolution, and faster print speeds on less expensive printers have made digital textile printing more efficient and cost-effective. Overall, these factors contribute to a robust and expanding digital textile printing market.”
Simon Daplyn, product and marketing manager, Sun Chemical, said there is some growth in the digital textile printing market, though a number of markets have stagnated since peaking in 2021 when COVID lockdown measures were eased.
“Additional impacting factors include the war in Ukraine and its ongoing effect on energy costs, the subsequent conflict in Israel-Gaza and the general political instability globally,” Daplyn noted. “These issues have led to high inflation rates in many key countries, leading consumers to invest less in new garments and home textiles and leaving many brands and retailers with large stock inventories that have reduced the demand for new printed fabrics.
“Europe has been particularly impacted by these supply and demand issues, including digital textile strongholds like Italy and Turkey,” added Daplyn. “Asia, alternately, has seen growth in the last 18 months, mainly with equipment and consumables from Chinese manufacturers. There is optimism in the wider market for a return to stronger and sustained growth from the end of 2024, onward.”
“The digital textile market is continuing to experience growth, driven by the advancements in printing technologies and ongoing demand for customized apparel,” said Lily Hunter, product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America Inc.
Paul Edwards, VP of the Digital Division of INX International Ink, said there is growth occurring in the digital textile market, but it is very dependent upon the products and applications.
“The complexion of the market has changed quite a bit since the COVID-19 era, and trends and patterns have changed too,” he added. “Looking at some specific product areas, digital print in terms of roll-to-roll fashion applications that are using mostly reactive dyes has been quite challenging since the pandemic and is still slowly recovering. Dye sublimation products used for display applications, which took a significant dip due to event cancellations, have bounced back a bit quicker.
“However, growth is mainly in the applications more focused on shorter runs and personalization, where products are produced near to the end user rather than shipped from traditional textile producing regions in the world,” Edwards observed. “There has therefore been some nice growth in direct-to-garment applications (DTG) and within direct-to-film (DTF) applications, which include textiles as well as other substrates.”
