New research from Smithers projects the global inkjet market will reach $177 billion by 2031, driven by growth in packaging, geographic shifts toward Asia, and advances in automation and AI.

According to The Future of Inkjet Printing to 2031, the graphics and packaging inkjet segment is valued at $101.1 billion in 2026, with continued expansion expected to push that figure to $134.6 billion by 2031. The industrial and functional inkjet sector adds another $29.2 billion in 2026, growing to $42.7 billion over the same period.

Packaging and labels are among the fastest-growing applications, fueled by e-commerce, shorter run lengths and increasing demand for personalization. In contrast, traditional segments such as advertising print and transactional output continue to decline.

The report highlights Asia Pacific as the fastest-growing region, expected to overtake North America across all metrics by 2031. China and India are playing a central role, both as expanding end markets and as emerging suppliers of inkjet equipment and consumables—intensifying competition for Western manufacturers.

Sustainability is also reshaping the nearly $10 billion ink market, with water-based formulations gaining traction in textiles, corrugated and commercial print, and increasingly in packaging. Migration regulations and recyclability requirements are accelerating the shift away from solvent-based systems, while print-on-demand capabilities are helping reduce waste and excess inventory.

On the equipment side, manufacturers are moving toward application-specific press designs, prioritizing productivity over volume. Fewer machines are being sold, but with higher output, a trend already evident in wide-format graphics.

Meanwhile, AI and automation are narrowing the cost gap between inkjet and analogue production. Technologies such as predictive maintenance, inline inspection and AI-driven diagnostics are improving uptime and efficiency, while generative AI is beginning to play a role in content creation workflows.

Smithers notes that by 2031, these capabilities are expected to become standard across much of the installed base, reinforcing inkjet’s position as a key growth engine across print and packaging.