Press Releases

ICMA Global Market Survey Shows Continued Growth In Card Manufacturing Industry

—in 2007 Over 19 Billion Cards were Manufactured Globally—

PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ—October 20, 2008— The International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA), a global non-profit association for card manufacturers, personalizers and suppliers, announced today the results of its Annual Card Manufacturing Global Market Survey. The survey measured results from 2007 and revealed that factors such as inflation and the decline of the value of the dollar have affected the value of the overall global card market. However, North America remains the #1 unit producer of cards with the Asia Pacific region retaining its second position in card production after out-producing Europe for the first time in 2006.

In 2007 the unit market reached 19.2 billion cards which represents a 12 percent increase over 2006. North America remains the largest card unit market with more than 9.1 billion cards manufactured in 2007.

Asia Pacific manufactured 4.5 billion cards. Europe remained in the #3 position with just over 4 billion cards manufactured. Latin America reached the 1 billion mark in 2007 and Middle East/Africa manufactured 489 Million cards last year.

The regions surveyed were North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East/Africa. The products surveyed were plastic cards of all thicknesses including traditional cards—with and without magnetic stripe, and chip cards that include contact, contactless and combi-cards for diverse applications such as financial hologram cards, ID cards, telecom cards, gift cards, transit cards and more.

The survey revealed the following growth statistics:

The survey also analyzed regional demographics and card-specific statistics such as market share for traditional cards, secure cards, non-secure cards and financial cards.

The survey results are available to ICMA members via the ICMA website at www.icma.com. Non-ICMA members can purchase the survey for $2500 and obtain information about becoming a member of ICMA by contacting Lynn McCullough, phone: 609-799-4900, email: lmccullough@icma.com—or by visiting the ICMA website at www.icma.com.

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About the Survey
ICMA, the world’s leading global association for card manufacturers, personalizers and suppliers, conducted the survey. The survey measures numbers of cards manufactured and market volumes, not individual manufacturers and applications. Card manufacturers throughout the world completed the confidential survey. Additional validated industry data is utilized to support survey results and an independent auditor is used for data submission and confidentiality.

About ICMA
Based in Princeton Junction, NJ, USA, ICMA is a non-profit association of plastic card manufacturers, personalizers and related industry participants. With more than 200 members globally, ICMA acts as a clearinghouse for industry issues, including the production, technology, application, security and environmental issues of plastic cards.

Editor’s Note:
For more information about the Global Market Survey, please contact Meghan Higgins at 609-799-6000 ext. 24 or email: mhiggins@icma.com.