This growth rate is an acceleration of global growth between 2005 and 2010 period and reflects in part the reduced 2010 bases of the developed countries.
The Freedonia Group report suggests that economic recovery in several key markets through 2015 will boost growth while the global recession of 2009 restrained manufacturing activity and capital investments.
Countries such as China, India, Indonesia and others with large, developing industrial bases and nascent regulatory schemes are expected to see the fastest growth. Filter sales in developing areas will be driven by rising per capita incomes, which will bolster key filter markets such as motor vehicles and motorcycles. Rising environmental standards and increased attention paid to food and beverage safety regulations, along with better enforcement, will also require investment.
Fast growing economic activity in developing areas will also result in the increased need to tap poor quality water resources, and rising investment in modernising water, wastewater and power generation infrastructure, all to the benefit of filter demand.
However, in many of the least developed countries, especially in Africa and parts of Asia, growth will be limited by lack of adequate funding and local corruption that impedes progress.
In developed countries, filter demand will be fueled by improving economic conditions, higher income levels, and relatively stringent and well-enforced environmental standards. North America and Western Europe will record similar gains through 2015, rebounding from low 2010 bases, the report claims. Although representing mature markets, these regions will remain the most intensive users of filters in per capita terms, reflecting the advanced nature of their economies. North America, Western Europe and Japan are comparable in terms of the maturity of their water and power generation infrastructures, regulatory oversight, and the technological sophistication of local manufacturing, all of which will boost sales of after-market filters.
In 2010, the US was the largest national market with 20% of global sales, followed by China and Japan, with 12 and 9% of global sales, respectively. China is projected to post the biggest growth of any national market, with 22% of projected global filter gains between 2010 and 2015.