Price Hanna Consultants has published a February 2019 report on the world outlook for hygiene absorbent products and the key raw materials of nonwovens, fluff pulp, airlaid cores, superabsorbents and hygiene films.

Since 1993, Pricie Hanna has prepared fourteen in-depth reports analyzing the markets for absorbent products in key countries/regions throughout the world and the important materials used in them. The last global hygiene report was released in February 2017. This updated study now published by Price Hanna Consultants details the prospects for absorbent products in the key global markets of North America, Western Europe, the Pacific Rim, Central and South America, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, China, India, Africa and the rest of Central Asia. 

The report contains unit volume market estimates for 2017 and 2018 and projections for 2023 for 46 individual countries and all geographic regions. The 2017 global and regional market share positions and volumes of the leading absorbent products competitors are estimated. The study includes 2017 and 2018 estimates and 2023 forecasts of the consumption of key raw materials used in absorbent products (cover stock, superabsorbents, fluff pulp, airlaid cores and hygiene film) by product category and region.

The global consumption of hygiene absorbent products (disposable diapers, child pants, feminine hygiene and adult incontinence products) grew to about 657 billion units in 2018. Due to rapid market penetration and growth in the last several years, China is now the largest volume market for hygiene absorbent products. Volume in the emerging markets collectively is substantially larger than the combined markets for these products in North America, Western Europe and Japan. Growth rates for the next five years in the undeveloped and developing markets of Asia and Africa will continue to exceed the global average growth of this industry. These regions provide significant market penetration and volume growth opportunities for absorbent product market participants and their suppliers. The study details the five year market outlooks in each major country market and geographic region. Demographic factors, such as declining birth rates and increases in elderly populations, are assessed in the projections of the potential market sizes for hygiene absorbent products. 

New in this edition is an expanded section on hygiene trends and developments and adult incontinence product volumes by product type.