The wallpaper market in Italy

The term wallpaper can refer to a material used to cover and decorate the walls or interior partitions of a house or building. The need to decorate walls has ancient origins, while the introduction of paper as a material dates back to the 12th century in Europe through its importation from China.

There are generally 4 types of wallpaper:

Traditional wallpaper, printed on paper;

"Non-woven" wallpaper, composed not of paper but of polyester and cellulose fibers;

Vinyl wallpaper, printed on a layer of PVC;

Natural fiber wallpaper

In addition to these relatively common products, there is a variety of wallpapers made from original materials, including metal wallpaper, flocked velvet wallpaper.

Market players mainly target two types of customers:

Residential (Households)

Non-residential (Offices, hotels, restaurants)

From the Middle Ages to the present day, wallpaper has evolved considerably, penetrating the concept of Italian fashion and interior design, completely overturning its marginal historical role. Today, wallpaper is seen as a key decoration accessory. However, although the size of the global wallpaper market has grown over the past 5 years, the size of the Italian market has decreased dramatically, dropping 56% from 2013 to 2018. Moreover, the value of exports has decreased while the value of imports has increased, highlighting the threat of losing its position in the global wallpaper market that Italy faces.

The past decade has seen massive growth in technological innovations in the wallpaper market, leading to the use of new materials, designs and uses. Today, in fact, wallpaper is being used in spaces in the home where it has never been used in the past. One of the main emerging trends is the installation of wallpaper in the bathroom, which has surprisingly turned out to be the room for which most Italians choose wallpaper, with 23 percent of preferences

In terms of printing techniques, the fastest-growing segment is digitally printed wallpaper, which has met customers' growing customization needs and revolutionized the traditional techniques used in the production process