Europe Pharmaceutical Glass Packaging Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Vials, Bottles, Cartridges & Syringes And Ampoules), By Glass Type (Type I, Type II, Type III), By Application, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030

Report Overview

The Europe pharmaceutical glass packaging market size was estimated at USD 3.4 billion in 2022 and is expected to exhibit at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.8% from 2022 to 2030. High demand from pharmaceutical industry coupled with extensive utilization in generic injectable drugs is anticipated to drive the growth. Further, glass prevents atmospheric gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide from entering the primary container, thereby preventing the contamination of the drugs. It also prevents the drug from potential degradation, such as oxidation and hydrolysis. In addition, glass packaging increases the drug stability by resisting escape of volatile ingredients. All these factors are anticipating to surge the product demand in near future.

In 2020, the glass manufacturing industry in Europe comprises 162 glass production plants in 23 countries of the region, manufacturing over 80 billion products, according to the European Commission. Europe is the largest producer of glass in the world accounting for approximately one-third of global glass production. The glass manufacturing industry of Europe is known for the quality of its products, capacity for technological innovations, and skilled workforce. Thus, the presence of the largest glass manufacturing industry in Europe is expected to provide abundant raw materials for the production of glass packaging products in the region over the forecast period.

In addition a large number of biologics being introduced in the European market, drug delivery and packaging companies must innovate their services and products to ensure that these complex products having very specific requirements are delivered safely to patients. Biologics are harder to manufacture, store, and administer compared to small molecules. This leads to a surged demand for customized glass packaging products with specific features to address some of the challenges such as transportation, integrity, and handling of the drug. 

Product Insights

Bottles was the largest market segment, accounting for 35.7% in 2022 in terms of revenue. The market has been segmented on the basis of product as ampoules, bottles, vials, syringes and cartridges. Vials have high analytical performance and great sustainability, which is expected to drive the segment with second fastest growth rate after ampoules. Therefore, the vials segment is expected to witness a rise in market share over the forecast period.

Glass bottles used for pharmaceutical packaging are categorized into two types depending on their size, namely, small bottles and large bottles. The large size glass bottles are used for packaging of reagents as well as transfusion and infusion bottles.The small glass bottles is used for packaging of syrup bottles and other oral liquids. The small sized bottles segment is expected to witness growth on account of numerous new opportunities including the rising consumption of oral tablets that are packaged in small bottles.

Ampoules that are largely developed from glass are anticipated to grow with the most attractive CAGR, in terms of revenue, during the forecast period from 2022 to 2030 owing to the ability of glass to filter specific wavelengths, high microbiological control, and high chemical resistance. Large number of ampoules are produced in compliance with the DIN ISO EN 9187-1/2 standard in sealed designs, funnel-type, and straight-stem.

In July 2021, Stevanato Group, an Italian medical packaging firm went public with the listing of its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. It has raised USD 672 million for the company which was founded in 1949 and has become a multinational packaging company. It is now manufacturing cartridges for insulin pens and provides vials and syringes for COVID-19 vaccines.

Application Insights

Based on application, pharmaceutical segment commanded the largest share of revenue of 80.8% in 2022. This segment is also projected to maintain its dominance in the market from 2023 to 2030. The industry in Europe that manufactures pharmaceutical-grade glass is continuously evolving in terms of improving the glass produced by it that is used for developing different types of packaging products. The innovative glass technology helps produce novel glass compositions and treatment methods for use in high-tech medicine and dentistry, photonics, and power generation applications.

The flourishing glass manufacturing industry in the region is expected to significantly support glass packaging product manufacturers, in terms of raw material supply, especially required for manufacturing bottle, vials and ampoules.

Glass Type Insights

Type I glass led the market and accounted for more than 66.4% share of the revenue in 2022. Type I glass is ideal for containing all types of injectable preparations with pH values ranging from acidic to alkaline. In addition, it has good resistance against shocks and heat & chemicals. It can also be sterilized before or after filling.

Type I borosilicate glass offers better quality and is more resistant to thermal shock than common type III soda-lime glass. Type I borosilicate glass is less subject to thermal stress and is commonly used for developing reagent bottles and labware. Some of the leading producers of type I borosilicate glass include Ardagh Group S.A. and Nipro. The common type of borosilicate glass used for producing laboratory glassware has a very low thermal expansion coefficient, which is about one-third of ordinary soda-lime glass.

Regional Insights

DACH dominated the market and accounted for more than 24.6% share of revenue in 2022. The developing markets are expected to witness a surge in spending in pharmaceutical industry over the upcoming years.

The DACH region includes Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Among all the countries, Germany is one of the largest players in the European pharmaceutical industry. It is home to key manufacturers of vials, bottles, and ampoules. One such player includes Schott AG, which produces a wide range of pharmaceutical glass packaging. The company has a critical pharmaceutical tubing plant that produces one-and-a-half meter-long glass tubes, which are used to produce pharmaceutical vials at the Müllheim-based plant of Schott AG in Germany.

Similarly, Switzerland’s pharmaceutical industry has continued to expand in the past two years and in 2021 accounts for 25% of total industrial value. Pharmaceutical sector is a major pillar of Switzerland’s export industry. The pharmaceutical sector has made a significant contribution to the growth of Switzerland’s economy over the past decade. Switzerland remains an attractive location for multinational pharmaceutical companies. The growing pharmaceutical industry in the country offers a wide range of opportunities, in terms of sales and growth, for pharmaceutical packaging players, including the manufacturers of vials and ampoules.

However, UK and Italy are the fastest growing market in terms of revenue. The factors attributed to drive the market are expanding pharmaceutical industry and boosting investment of health care. For instance, the government of the UK has been continuously focusing on the collaboration of universities with small and large-scale pharmaceutical players, aiming for more R&D investments. This is expected to benefit the pharmaceutical industry in the country, in turn, benefiting the pharmaceutical packaging market.

Key Companies & Market Share Insights

Numerous pharmaceutical glass manufacturing companies are primarily concentrated in Europe resulting in well-established supply chain and production system in the regions. However, manufacturers are shifting their base to countries such as Brazil, India, and China due to low labor costs and growth of opportunities offered by these countries.

Emerging players including SGD S.A and Şişecam Group are considered emerging players in the market. This is due to the continuous investments in the expansion of the business and production of glass pharma packaging. For instance, SGD S.A has been upgrading its plants in China and Spain with advanced equipment in order to boost production. Some of the prominent players in the Europe pharmaceutical glass packaging market include:

• SGD S.A.

• Nipro Corporation

• Stölzle-Oberglas GmbH

• Bormioli Pharma S.r.l

• Owens-Illinois, Inc.

• West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

• Schott AG

• Gerresheimer AG

• Beatson Clark

• Ardagh Group S.A

• Şişecam Group

Europe Pharmaceutical Glass Packaging Market Report Scope

Europe Pharmaceutical Glass Packaging Market Segmentation

This report forecasts revenue growth at the, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis on the latest industry trends and opportunities in each of the sub-segments from 2018 to 2030. For this study, Grand View Research has segmented the Europe pharmaceutical glass packaging market report based on product and region:

• Product Outlook (Volume, Million Units; Revenue, USD Million; 2018 - 2030)

  • Vials

    • Small vials

    • Large vials

  • Bottles

    • Small bottles

    • Large bottles

  • Cartridges & Syringes

  • Ampoules

• Glass Type Outlook (Volume, Million Units; Revenue, USD Million; 2018 - 2030)

  • Type I

  • Type II

  • Type III

• Application Outlook (Volume, Million Units; Revenue, USD Million; 2018 - 2030)

  • Nutraceutical

  • Cosmeceutical

  • Pharmaceutical

• Regional Outlook (Volume, Million Units; Revenue, USD Million; 2018 - 2030)

  • EUA

  • NORDIC (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland)

  • DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)

  • IBERA (Spain & Portugal)

  • France

  • UK

  • Poland

  • Italy

  • Australia