Online print prices settle

The trend of recent months is continuing: average online print prices for flyers have also risen in the first quarter of 2023 and are once again reaching record levels for some suppliers.

This means that online print prices appear to be decoupling from graphic paper prices again for the first time - after all, these have slightly fallen recently. The ZOPI shopping cart is somewhat different: Here, prices are slightly below those of Q4 2022. All developments can be found in the current Zipcon Online Print Price Index.

With the start of the new year, three new suppliers have also been added to the ZOPI: druckdiscount24, PrimusPrint and Printkit. This gives the Zipcon Online Print Price Index an even broader data base and enables us to assess individual developments even better.

General economic conditions

The overall economic situation

After the overall inflation rate of +8.7% in January and February of the year was still almost at the record level of November 2022, it fell slightly in March 2023 to +7.4% year-on-year. This is still an above-average value, but the peak seems to have been passed for the time being.

According to the Statistisches Bundesamt (Federal Statistical Office), prices for energy products also weakened. In March, these were 3.5% higher than in the same month a year earlier - in January this figure was -19.1% and in February -23.1%.

In March, however, a base effect due to the sharp rise in energy prices in the previous year took effect; in addition, the price brake for electricity, natural gas and district heating, which has applied retroactively since January 2023, is now also taking effect. However positive the slight decline may be, it should at best be seen as a "brief breather", as both the inflation rate and energy prices remain well above the levels of a year

Business climate in the printing industry

Companies in the German printing and media industry also appear to have bottomed out: As the March economic telegram of the Bundesverband Druck und Medien (BVDM - German Printing and Media Industries Federation) showed, the business climate, business situation and business expectations were again assessed more positively overall in the first three months of the year than in the last two quarters of 2022. Even though the respective values varied in January, February and March and remained below the level of the first quarter of 2022, printing companies are again somewhat more positive about the future overall.

Paper prices fall slightly again

The fact that prices for graphic papers have been falling slightly for some time, as indicated by the Verband der Papierindustrie (German paper industry association) "Die Papierindustrie" and the Statistisches Bundesamt (German Federal Statistical Office), may also have contributed to this. However, and this is also part of the truth, production