Major paper products exhibition Paperworld commissioned market research which revealed that Germans spent around €149 million on greetings cards in the last year, a 6.4 per cent rise on 2011. This compared with a poor 2010 that saw sales slump by €30 million.
The greeting card industry in Germany is thought to have an annual turnover of some €700 million from approximately 600 million cards a year, made predominantly by small businesses via female customers. The traditional card market is not considered to be under great threat from electronic messaging or social media, especially in the realm of sympathy and condolences.
The last edition of Paperworld – which organiser Messe Frankfurt combines with Creativeworld and Christmas World – saw 2,967 exhibitors from 66 countries presenting their latest products to 83,206 visitors from around the world. There was an increase in international buyers, most of them from East Europe (Czech Republic, the Ukraine and the Slovak Republic), Turkey, Japan, Denmark, Taiwan, Canada, South Africa and Mexico. Paperworld is the most international trade fair for the sector.
