Writing Instruments

Demand for writing instruments was already weak prior to the emergence of the pandemic in Switzerland, as many local consumers increasingly used computers and particularly smartphones instead of paper. The disruption caused by the pandemic –…

Economic recovery from COVID-19 in 2021 proved to be slower than anticipated at the beginning of the year. Even with vaccination, new variants proved to be a challenge to keep case numbers down, especially in colder seasons. This impacted schools and…

The pandemic placed downward pressure on sales of many writing instruments over 2020-21 in Australia with the exception of colouring. Demand during this period was eroded by lockdowns, trading restrictions and the shift towards remote working and…

With the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic having interrupted commercial activity in key sectors of the Thai economy during 2020 and large parts of 2021, many Thai consumers adopted a very careful approach to their spending. Companies in writing…

Following the gradual start of recovery in 2021, writing instruments is set to see healthy current value growth in 2022. The return to in-person classes and back-to-school season is the critical driver for writing instruments, especially pens and…

2021 saw sales of writing instruments remain under pressure due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the repeated closure of all of the country’s schools during 2020 and 2021 meant that many children used writing instruments…

Sales of school writing instruments started to experience a healthy increase in early 2022 after slumping in the previous year as face-to-face study and school activities were restricted by the government. This increase in sales was recognised by…

Even before the onset of the pandemic, retail constant value sales (2022 prices) of writing instruments had been in decline due to the increased use of digital devices—particularly smartphones. Disruption arising from COVID-19 restrictions…

Writing instruments has been seeing increasing downwards pressure from the impact of COVID-19. In the first half of 2022, writing instruments was hit hard by the resurgence of COVID-19 and school suspensions. Similar to 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak in…

The long-awaited school start of 2022 seems to be rather disappointing, with rather sluggish growth. 2022 was to be the year of a full recovery due to the total absence of lockdowns and closures in school and universities, however, the trajectory has…

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, in March 2020, writing instruments has maintained its main back-to-school sales period. The months of December, January and February concentrate most of the sales in the category, since classes…

Writing instruments experienced a positive trend in 2022, with double-digit retail volume and current value growth in all categories. The best performing category is fountain pens, which was also one of the most impacted categories in 2020 at the…

Within writing instruments, highlighters and markers is set to see the highest current value growth in 2022. Zebra mildliners is a range of pastel highlighters which has been gaining significant popularity amongst local students. Its popularity is…

Writing instruments in Japan was already seeing retail volume and current value declines prior to COVID-19, due to a shift to paperless operations and a declining birth rate. The pandemic then had a further heavy negative impact, as schools closed…

Writing instruments is experiencing increasing competition from digital gadgets, which are rapidly replacing these products for multiple activities. However, there remain certain pockets of demand where the replacement of writing instruments is not…

After a double-digit decline in value sales in 2020, in 2022, sales are set to stabilise and even outperform compared to pre-pandemic figures. Current value sales of writing instruments has been positively impacted by relaxing COVID-19 restrictions,…

The demand for school supplies resulting from the return to class-based learning for the 2022-2023 school year has provided a big boost to sales of writing instruments in 2022, building on the partial recovery seen during 2021. Nonetheless, not all…

Writing instruments registered mid-single digit growth in current value terms in 2022, with sales edging closer to pre-pandemic levels. This was due to the normalisation of lifestyles, including a return to regular schooling, following the easing of…

Writing instruments is seeing only moderate growth in retail volume terms in 2022 with sales remaining below pre-COVID-19 levels. Demand is being negatively impacted by the significant increase in the prices of writing instruments, and the generally…

While writing instruments is expected to register double-digit current value growth, constant value and volume growth is expected to be much more muted. The reason for such high current value growth is that Turkey has one of the highest inflation…