Ceramic Flooring Demand to Reach 8.8 Billion Square Meters in 2024

Global demand for ceramic flooring is forecast to rise 2.8% per year to 8.8 billion square meters in 2024, supported by the material’s:

• favorable performance properties and aesthetics, supporting its application in a wide range of end uses
• low cost – ceramic tile is cost-competitive with broadloom carpeting and LVT – that promotes its use among value-conscious specifiers, such as homebuilders and commercial contractors
• wide availability in fast-growing, developing markets in the Asia/Pacific, Africa/Mideast, and Central and South America regions

These trends and more are in the new Global Hard Surface Flooring study from The Freedonia Group.

Ceramic tile flooring tends to be particularly popular in warmer parts of the world, dominating demand in Central and South America and parts of the Africa/Mideast and Asia/Pacific regions. Thus, expanding use of finished floor coverings relative to total floor space in these markets – driven by improving standards of living – will bolster demand for lower-end ceramic flooring products.

Ceramic tile flooring already has extensive market penetration worldwide, leaving limited potential for market share growth. However, the relatively high concentration of demand in fast-growing developing markets will provide substantial opportunities for sales gains.

Despite the basic nature of ceramic tile flooring, technological advances for these products continue to be made. For example, sales of ceramic flooring have been bolstered by advances in digital printing, which have improved the ability of ceramic tile to convincingly mimic the look of higher end materials such as hardwood and marble.