UFI: further growth expected in 2025 for exhibition industry

Paris, 11th February: Earlier this week, UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, released its latest Global Exhibition Barometer research.

According to the survey research, the exhibition industry continued to grow revenues globally in 2024, at 16% year-on-year, while the growth rate for 2025 will be 18%. Nearly half of the companies plan to increase their workforce in the next six months, with another 51% will keep current staff numbers stable.

Chris Skeith OBE, Managing Director and CEO at UFI, commented, “UFI’s Barometer research has provided like-for-like benchmarking on key metrics for 18 years, and this new edition shows positive indicators for the year ahead across all markets, which is heartening to see. However, at the same time, it shows some uncertainty around economic environments and geopolitical challenges, demonstrating we operate in an ever-changing world.”

The latest edition of this biannual research was concluded in January 2025 and it featured data from 390 companies in 56 countries and regions. The report included detailed analysis covering 19 countries and regions: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, the UAE, the UK, and the USA – as well as five additional aggregated regional zones.