ACIMAC research Dept/MECS anticipates to Ceramic World Review the key figures of the 13th edition of the annual report “World production and consumption of ceramic tiles”. In 2024 world tile production and consumption fell by 6.2% and 6.8% respectively. World tile import-export flows also saw a decrease, down 2.5% on 2023.

The 13th edition of the study “World production and consumption of ceramic tiles” produced by MECS / Acimac Research Centre is due to be published in October. The study – previewed in Ceramic World Review No. 163 – runs to almost 300 pages of charts, tables and commentary, and examines in detail the ten-year trend to 2024 for the industry, the market, per capita consumption and import-export flows, both by macro-region and for the 76 largest tile producing, consuming, exporting and importing countries.

For each country there is also an in-depth breakdown of import and export volumes by product type: porcelain stoneware, single-fired and double-fired tiles, and other materials.

As in previous years, the study will be accompanied by the publication of the volume entitled “Ceramic Tile Market Forecast Analysis 2025-2029”, which provides an updated five-year forecast for the global ceramic tile market. 

Global tile production fell below 15 billion sqm

Overall, the global ceramic industry and market continued to experience a downturn in 2024, following the negative trends observed in 2022-2023. The persistent economic slowdown and international geopolitical tensions further cooled global tile demand and resulted in another contraction in worldwide production and trade volumes, with percentage declines slightly worse than in 2023.

World tile production fell to 14,950 million sqm in 2024, 6.2% down on the 15,937 million sqm in 2023. Although almost all regions experienced a decline in production, the vast majority of the 987 million sqm contraction occurred in Asia and North Africa.

Asia’s output fell 6.5%, from 11.6 to 10.9 billion sqm, equivalent to 72.8% of global production. China saw a contraction of 820 million sqm, partially offset by a recovery of more than 100 million sqm in Vietnam. Europe produced 1,615 million sqm (10.9% of the world total).

span>Thanks to a rebound in Spain, the European Union posted a modest 1.4% growth in output (from 1,039 to 1,054 million sqm), still far from offsetting the 18% contraction of 2023.

Production in non-EU Europe dropped to 561 million sqm (-8.8%), largely due to a lower output in Turkey.

Production in the American continent also fell, dropping to 1,428 million sqm. North America saw a decline in output from 349 to 328 million sqm (-6%), while production in Central and South America slipped to 1,100 million sqm, a decrease of 2.1%.

Finally, production in Africa saw its first contraction after more than a decade of growth, dropping from 1,178 to 1,025 million sqm (-13%). This was attributable to the sharp decline in Egypt and, to a lesser extent, in Algeria, while output in the Sub-Saharan area maintained 2023 levels.

The international trade decreased to 2.67 billion sqm

In 2024, world exports also fell for the third consecutive year with a decline of 2.5% (essentially repeating the -2.4% of 2023).

A total of 2,674 million sqm of ceramic tiles were exported worldwide, 69 million sqm less than the previous year. This drop is almost entirely attributable to Asia (down from 1,539 to 1,472 million sqm; -4.3%), which in effect means China and India.

By contrast, exports from other areas remained substantially unchanged. Exports from the European Union dropped from 770 to 768 million sqm (-0.2%); Central and South America from 138 to 132 million sqm (-4.2%); North America from 43 to 39 million sqm (-10.8%); and Africa from 121 to 111 million sqm (-7.9%).

One positive exception was the recovery in exports from non-EU Europe (from 132 to 151 million sqm; +14.7%), driven by the strong performance of Turkey.