The Print Business Index Q1 2024

Every quarter Print Business provides a snapshot of what the print industry looks like. The first issue of the new design will establish a baseline. Every subsequent issue will build an at-a-glance view of what’s going well and what isn’t, complete with expert commentary from Gareth Ward.

HOW THE PRINT BUSINESS INDEX WORKS
It is all relative. The baseline – 100 – and 2016 (the year of the last Drupa) is the starting point. The subsequent years are calculated in relation to whatever was marked as 100 in 2016. For example, whatever the UK book market was worth in £ sterling in 2016 is 100. What the UK book market was worth in 2017 is compared to 2016 and the difference is reflected in the Index, eg 103. Then 2018 is compared to 2016 and so on. Everything starts at the same point and is shown in relation to that point. It may be sales in monetary terms, or units sold, or ink by volume or paper by sheets. It doesn’t matter. It’s all relative. It is intended as a snapshot of how the printing industry is doing and how that is measured varies. By setting the Index at 100 in 2016, it can been seen at a glance, in a snapshot, what is going on. All the information that underpins the Index is in the public domain. Print Business simply puts it in context.

• For access to graphs please subscribe to the magazine. This level of industry intelligence takes a great deal of expertise and in the 21st century should not have to rely on a display advertising business model to fund it.