Europe Packaging Automation Market Analysis by Mordor Intelligence
The Europe Packaging Automation Market size is estimated at USD 18.02 billion in 2025, and is expected to reach USD 24.22 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 6.10% during the forecast period (2025-2030). Heightened regulatory demands, especially the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), converge with rising labor costs and rapid technological progress to re-shape capital-spending priorities across European manufacturing. Companies are automating to ensure recyclability compliance, close labor gaps and shield margins from energy-price swings. Line-side digitization, from AI-enabled inspection to cobot palletizing, is creating new competitive baselines. Simultaneously, end-users are widening supplier pools to mitigate raw-material volatility and cyber-risk exposure, thereby raising expectations for integrated, secure and upgradeable automation solutions. Intensifying buyer scrutiny around total cost of ownership favors vendors able to bundle hardware, analytics and life-cycle services into a single value proposition, accelerating consolidation among equipment makers and software specialists.
Key Report Takeaways
- By business type, manufacturers led with 41.5% of Europe packaging automation market share in 2024, while B2C e-commerce retailers are forecast to post the fastest 13.0% CAGR through 2030.
- By end-user vertical, food and beverage jointly accounted for a dominant 44.0% share in 2024; pharmaceuticals is projected to advance at a 12.3% CAGR to 2030.
- By packaging stage, end-of-line equipment is the fastest-growing segment, charting a 10.1% CAGR versus primary packaging’s 38.9% 2024 share.
- By product type, filling machines held 27.8% of Europe packaging automation market size in 2024, whereas palletizing and depalletizing systems are expanding at 13.9% CAGR.
- By geography, Germany captured 37.0% revenue in 2024; France is the fastest climber at an 8.2% CAGR over 2025-2030.
Europe Packaging Automation Market Trends and Insights
Drivers Impact Analysis
Driver | (~) % Impact on CAGR Forecast | Geographic Relevance | Impact Timeline |
---|---|---|---|
Pressure to reduce operating costs | +1.2% | Pan-European, strongest in Germany & France | Medium term (2-4 years) |
Shrinking skilled-labour pool | +1.8% | Western Europe core | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
EU packaging-waste & traceability mandates | +1.5% | EU-wide | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
Mass-customisation & shorter SKUs | +0.9% | Western Europe & Nordics | Medium term (2-4 years) |
AI-enabled predictive maintenance | +0.6% | Early adopters across Europe | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
Plug-and-play modular cobots | +0.8% | Germany, France, UK | Medium term (2-4 years) |
Source: Mordor Intelligence
Pressure to Reduce Operating Costs
Packaging plants across Europe face sustained wage inflation and energy bills that remain well above 2022 levels, making automation the clearest path to offsetting operating pressure. ABB documented a 25% productivity gain at Striebel & John after deploying a multi-robot packaging island that also trimmed cardboard SKU counts from 15 to 9.[1]ABB, “Electrical Cabinets Packaged Quickly and Flexibly Thanks to ABB Robots,” abb.com Similar gains underpin Krones’ 10.1% 2024 EBITDA margin, despite persistently high polymer prices, signalling that early adopters are widening their cost gap over late movers.
Shrinking Skilled-Labour Pool
Manufacturing employment in the EU fell 2.1% in 2024, with packaging-line technicians among the hardest roles to fill. Bosch Rexroth’s battery-powered mobile cobot station lets one operator oversee tasks that previously needed a three-person team, freeing scarce labour for higher-value work.[2]Bosch Rexroth, “Mobile Cobot Station,” boschrexroth.com ABB’s OmniVance plug-and-play cells further lower the expertise barrier by shipping pre-configured and self-calibrating, enabling SMEs to deploy robots without in-house programmers.
EU Packaging-Waste and Traceability Mandates
The PPWR obliges producers to use fully recyclable packaging by 2030 and meet material-specific recycled-content thresholds. Compliance accelerates demand for high-precision sorting, vision inspection and digital coding capable of tracking every pack to its post-consumer destination.[3]European Parliament, “Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation Texts Adopted,” europarl.europa.eu In pharmaceuticals, the Falsified Medicines Directive pushes adoption of automated serialization and aggregation suites such as Systech’s semi-automated solution, showcased at Pharmapack 2025.
Mass-Customisation and Shorter SKUs
SKU counts at many European consumer-goods plants have risen by roughly 15% year-on-year since 2023, forcing machinery to execute ultra-fast, tool-less changeovers. Beckhoff’s linear transport modules and B&R’s batch-of-one conveyor technology enable discrete pack handling without halting the line, protecting throughput even as variants proliferate.
Restraints Impact Analysis
Restraint | (~) % Impact on CAGR Forecast | Geographic Relevance | Impact Timeline |
---|---|---|---|
High up-front capex | -1.4% | Most acute in Southern Europe SMEs | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
Cyber-security vulnerabilities | -0.8% | EU-wide | Medium term (2-4 years) |
Lack of interoperability standards | -0.7% | Legacy plants across Europe | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
Raw-material supply volatility | -0.5% | All regions | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
Source: Mordor Intelligence
High Up-Front Capex
Turn-key robotic lines can demand EUR 5-10 million, a figure that still deters many mid-sized converters even after grants and tax incentives. Vendors are responding with subscription models that shift spend from capital budgets to OPEX, though long payback windows remain a hurdle for family-owned firms.[4]Infosys Limited, “Modular Plant Automation for Smart Manufacturing,” infosys.com
Cyber-Security Vulnerabilities
The NIS2 directive classifies most packaging plants as “essential entities,” compelling adherence to stringent security protocols and incident-reporting rules. Integrators now embed network segmentation, real-time anomaly detection and managed patching into new projects, adding cost and design complexity.
Segment Analysis
By Business Type: Manufacturers Extend Scale Advantage
Manufacturers captured 41.5% of Europe packaging automation market share in 2024 by tying automation spend to overall plant-wide efficiency programs. Their scale supports multi-line roll-outs that amortize software and maintenance across higher volumes. Wholesale distributors adopt automation chiefly for palletising and cross-docking, whereas omni-channel retailers blend goods-to-person systems with automated bagging to accelerate fulfillment cycles. B2C e-commerce operators, buoyed by EUR 887 billion in regional online sales during 2024, will log a 13.0% CAGR to 2030, the fastest within the segment hierarchy. Investments gravitate toward smart sortation, auto-bagging and dimensioning modules capable of processing thousands of individualized parcels per hour. Personal-document shippers and contract packers remain niche but show steady uptake in track-and-trace capable printers and tamper-evident sealers.
A growing share of original manufacturers is revisiting make-versus-buy decisions, outsourcing secondary or tertiary packaging to co-packers yet retaining ownership of core filling and closing operations. That shift widens the addressable base for modular solutions that can be redeployed as order books fluctuate, ensuring vendors maintain recurring revenue from retrofits and line extensions.
Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase
By End-User Vertical: Food and Beverage Dominate as Pharma Ramps Up
Food and beverage control a combined 44.0% stake in the Europe packaging automation market, anchored by continuous-motion fillers, rotary cappers and wrap-around case packers optimized for high-volume SKUs. Coca-Cola’s 2025 upgrades in Genshagen and Lüneburg feature 60,000-container-per-hour glass lines, underscoring ongoing appetite for high-speed systems. Meanwhile the pharmaceutical sector, spurred by serialization and demand for personalized medicines, is expanding at 12.3% CAGR through 2030. Automated aggregation, inspection and cold-chain compliant palletizing are top investment areas, with Systech and ABB piloting multi-camera vision suites that certify every bundle before release.
Cosmetics and personal care brands adopt flexible cartoners and print-on-demand sleeve applicators to balance premium aesthetics with rising SKU counts. Household-chem and detergent makers focus on leak-proof dosing and space-saving secondary packs to navigate tightening transport-emission rules. Confectionery and bakery outfits deploy gentle-handling delta robots and ultrasonic bag sealers to preserve fragile products at speed, while 3PL providers scale up automated mailers and label applicators for omnichannel clients.
By Packaging Stage: End-of-Line Gains Momentum
Primary operations retained 38.9% share in 2024 thanks to entrenched demand for fillers, seamers and vacuum sealers that protect product integrity at source. However end-of-line solutions are outpacing all other stages at a 10.1% CAGR as plants chase labour elimination in palletizing, stretch-wrapping and intralogistics. The Europe packaging automation market size for robotic palletizers alone is rising swiftly, supported by systems like AWL’s vision-guided unit capable of 800 parcels per hour. Secondary packaging maintains relevance through wrap-around and tray packers that consolidate retail-ready bundles, while tertiary and warehouse automation integrate AGVs with WMS platforms to optimize dock-to-dock cycle times.
Manufacturers increasingly specify holistic layouts where primary, secondary and end-of-line assets share harmonized controls, enabling single-pane-of-glass monitoring and predictive maintenance. That architectural shift rewards suppliers capable of plug-and-produce interoperability via open protocols such as OPC UA PackML.
Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase
By Product Type: Filling Steady, Palletizing Surging
Filling machines account for 27.8% of Europe packaging automation market size, underpinned by sustained beverage and viscous-food throughput requirements. Servo-driven volumetric fillers and aseptic bloc systems remain core CAPEX items owing to their direct link with revenue capacity. Label-and-code equipment enjoys consistent pull from regulatory batch marking and sustainability logos, whereas form-fill-seal platforms cater to flexible pouches gaining ground in snacks and nutraceuticals.
Palletizing and depalletizing units post the sharpest expansion at 13.9% CAGR. Vision-equipped cobots now handle mixed-height packs without custom grippers, slashing changeover time and floorspace. Case packers evolve toward delta-robot top-load architectures that manage multiple SKU patterns on one frame. Bagging, capping and stretch-wrapping hold incremental gains, while inline inspection and X-ray systems see heightened demand as producers tie food-safety KPIs to brand equity.
Geography Analysis
Germany led the Europe packaging automation market with a 37.0% revenue share in 2024, riding on its entrenched machinery ecosystem and exporter status. Flagship projects such as Krombacher’s EUR 100 million brewery modernization which integrates advanced pattern formation and material-flow software illustrate continued domestic reinvestment even amid a subdued macro backdrop. Germany also benefits from clustering effects around Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, where engineering talent, component suppliers and university R&D form dense networks that accelerate product cycles.
France is the fastest-growing national market, projected to chart an 8.2% CAGR to 2030. Rapid adoption reflects the country’s aggressive stance on waste reduction, including plastics taxes and extended producer-responsibility schemes that spur investment in traceable, recyclable packaging systems. Food manufacturers expand cobot palletizing, while pharmaceutical clusters in Lyon and Île-de-France deploy next-generation inspection tunnels to satisfy export-market compliance.
The United Kingdom remains a key adopter despite navigating post-Brexit customs complexity. Demand centers on serialized pharma packs, spirit bottling and specialty-chem drums. Italy leverages long-standing expertise in boutique machinery for luxury foods, wines and cosmetics, prompting above-average penetration of servo-driven cartoners and flow-wrappers. Spain emphasizes energy-efficient retrofits, increasingly coupling variable-speed drives with gas-phase sterilization to reconcile productivity with carbon caps.
Nordic countries pioneer fibre-based material trials and demand robotics that handle variable, lightweight substrates without deformation. The Netherlands targets fossil-free packaging by 2050, fuelling orders for all-electric palletizers and AGVs. Poland and Czechia register double-digit automation growth from greenfield FMCG and contract-filling plants, though talent shortages and financing gaps temper rollout speed. Overall, regional heterogeneity sustains supplier opportunities for tiered offerings premium high-throughput lines in mature economies and modular pay-as-you-grow kits in emerging ones.
Competitive Landscape
Industry structure is moderately concentrated and tilting toward greater integration. ABB, Siemens and Rockwell Automation apply cross-industry control and software expertise to win multi-line contracts that bundle SCADA, drives and cybersecurity layers. Krones focuses squarely on beverage and liquid-food, posting 12.1% 2024 revenue growth on the back of retrofit upgrades and Netstal’s injection-molding portfolio acquisition, which broadens coverage into preform production.
Strategic moves coalesce around three themes: (1) platformization ABB’s OmniVance cells ship pre-calibrated, lowering commissioning days by up to 70%; (2) vertical integration Krones’ Netstal deal pulls moulding in-house, capturing adjacent margin; and (3) cyber-secure offerings—Siemens’ Industrial Edge embeds zero-trust frameworks to address NIS2 mandates. Consolidation is set to continue as mid-tier machine builders lacking software depth seek protective mergers or risk being sidelined when end-users source end-to-end solutions from a single vendor.
Emerging challengers target AI vision and predictive analytics. Several Germany-based start-ups offer edge-deployed quality-control models that self-train in hours, reducing false rejects. Partnerships with cloud providers extend these analytics to fleet-wide dashboards, creating service annuities for integrators while enabling users to shift toward condition-based maintenance. Vendors able to combine mechatronics with data-layer value are expected to outperform over the forecast horizon.
Europe Packaging Automation Industry Leaders
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JLS Automation
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Mitsubishi Corporation
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Rockwell Automation
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DESTACO
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Swisslog Holding AG
- *Disclaimer: Major Players sorted in no particular order

Recent Industry Developments
- February 2025: Krones posted 12.1% 2024 revenue growth to EUR 5.29 billion and guided 7–9% expansion for 2025 on robust beverage automation demand.
- February 2025: Bosch Rexroth unveiled a 7-axis mobile cobot station capable of four-hour untethered operation, addressing labour deficits on packaging lines.
- January 2025: Systech showcased a semi-automated aggregation platform at Pharmapack to streamline EU serialization compliance.
- January 2025: Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Germany commissioned three high-speed Krones lines, including a 60,000-container-per-hour glass system in Lüneburg.
Europe Packaging Automation Market Report Scope
In the past few years, production lines worldwide have undergone significant changes with the advent of automation and robotics. High levels of competition and growing interest in reducing turnaround times require manufacturers worldwide to automate to maintain high levels of productivity and efficiency. The study provides market segmentation by filling, labeling, bagging, palletizing, and more. It also provides an understanding of the regional market with an analysis of market trends and manufacturers and industry consultants.
By Business Type | Manufacturers |
Wholesale Distributors | |
Omni-channel Retailers | |
B2B e-Commerce Retailers | |
B2C e-Commerce Retailers | |
Personal-Document Shippers | |
Others | |
By End-User Vertical | Food |
Beverages | |
Pharmaceuticals | |
Cosmetics and Personal Care | |
Household and Detergents | |
Chemical | |
Confectionery and Bakery | |
Warehousing and 3PL | |
Others | |
By Packaging Stage | Primary (Filling/Sealing) |
Secondary (Cartoning/Case-Packing) | |
End-of-Line (Palletising/Stretch-Wrap) | |
Tertiary and Intralogistics | |
By Product Type | Filling Machines |
Labelling and Coding | |
Form-Fill-Seal (H/VFFS) | |
Bagging and Pouching | |
Palletising and Depalletising | |
Others | |
By Geography | Germany |
United Kingdom | |
France | |
Italy | |
Spain | |
Rest of Europe |
Manufacturers |
Wholesale Distributors |
Omni-channel Retailers |
B2B e-Commerce Retailers |
B2C e-Commerce Retailers |
Personal-Document Shippers |
Others |
Food |
Beverages |
Pharmaceuticals |
Cosmetics and Personal Care |
Household and Detergents |
Chemical |
Confectionery and Bakery |
Warehousing and 3PL |
Others |
Primary (Filling/Sealing) |
Secondary (Cartoning/Case-Packing) |
End-of-Line (Palletising/Stretch-Wrap) |
Tertiary and Intralogistics |
Filling Machines |
Labelling and Coding |
Form-Fill-Seal (H/VFFS) |
Bagging and Pouching |
Palletising and Depalletising |
Others |
Germany |
United Kingdom |
France |
Italy |
Spain |
Rest of Europe |
Key Questions Answered in the Report
What is the current size of the Europe packaging automation market?
The Europe packaging automation market stands at USD 18.02 billion in 2025 and is forecast to hit USD 24.22 billion by 2030.
Which business-type segment is growing fastest?
B2C e-commerce retailers are projected to record a 13.0% CAGR between 2025 and 2030 as online shopping volumes lift demand for automated parcel packaging.
Why is end-of-line automation expanding more quickly than primary packaging?
Labour shortages and e-commerce fulfillment pressures make robotic palletizing and stretch-wrapping attractive, driving a 10.1% CAGR for end-of-line equipment through 2030.
How do EU regulations influence automation investment?
The PPWR and serialization mandates compel producers to add traceability, inspection and recyclable-material handling capabilities, turning automation into a compliance necessity rather than a discretionary upgrade.
Which country leads the market and which is growing fastest?
Germany leads with 37.0% revenue share in 2024, while France is the fastest-growing geography at an 8.2% CAGR over 2025-2030.
Page last updated on: July 7, 2025