1. What is the current size of the global pharmaceutical packaging market in 2024?
The global pharmaceutical packaging market reached nearly US$133 billion in 2024, driven by rising biologics production, the advent of injectable therapies, and increased regulatory emphasis on sterility and patient safety. That positions pharma packaging as one of the fastest-growing healthcare manufacturing sectors worldwide.
2. Why is primary pharmaceutical packaging growing faster than secondary packaging?
Primary packaging represents 68–70% of the total market as it directly supports drug stability, sterility, and compatibility. Such formats, including vials, prefilled syringes, blisters, and plastic bottles, are in increasing demand for biologics, injectables, and self-administration devices which have been rapidly expanding through the global markets.
3. Which materials are most in demand for pharmaceutical primary packaging in 2024?
Demand is transitioning to modern materials such as COP/COC polymer syringes, flexible IV bags, and high-barrier films. Although glass vials and ampoules still represent around 11% of the value of injectable packaging, polymer-based packages now capture over 35% of them thanks to better safety, durability, and compatibility with more sensitive biologics.
4. How are serialization and traceability regulations impacting pharmaceutical secondary packaging?
Strict global regulations such as those set forth by DSCSA (U.S.) and EU FMD (Europe) are shaping secondary packaging requirements. Nowadays, labels and cartons are also acting as digital data carriers, showing booklet labels, RFID tags, anti-counterfeit codes, and serialization-ready designs. These changes are aiding a secondary packaging market for about US$30 billion in 2024.
5. Which regions offer the strongest growth opportunities for pharmaceutical packaging manufacturers?
North America also captures a larger share and accounts for 35% of global demand due to the scale of biologics and CDMO manufacturing. Asia-Pacific comes in next, though, at about 23% and is the region with the fastest growth rate, fueled along with India and China for expanding fill-finish capacity and production of generics. Western Europe has remained the center of the sustainable blister and serialization-enabled secondary packaging.
6. Who are the major companies operating in the pharmaceutical packaging market?
Some of the major companies are Amcor, Gerresheimer AG, Schott AG, AptarGroup, Berry Global, West Pharmaceutical Services, and Becton Dickinson (BD). These players play key roles in sectors like vials, ampoules, prefilled syringes, closures, polymer containers, and intelligent packaging.
