Market Overview

Size of the domestic stationery and office supply market attained 399,600 million yen based on the shipment value at manufacturers, which is down 2.0% from the previous fiscal year. Although there were no nationwide months-long school closures (which did happen in the preceding fiscal year due to the pandemic), demand remained stagnant due to repeated declarations of a state of emergency and restrictions on activities based on quasi-emergency measures. The industry faced predicament especially in terms of corporate demand, partly due to the spread of telework including work from home. On the other hand, sales of some arts and crafts-related products rose in response to the growing demand for products that improve the quality of life and hobbies at home, while the growth was not at the level that would leverage the overall market growth.

In view of the FY2021 market size by product, writing instruments rose by 3.7% year-on-year to 82,050 million yen, paper products declined by 1.9% to 138,350 million yen, and office products fell by 4.4% to 179,200 million yen.

 

Noteworthy Topics

Increasing Demand for Writing Instruments with Rich Color Variation

While the domestic demand for stationery and office supply sees stagnation in general, fountain pens and water-based marker pens are selling relatively well. Trend of enjoying wide range of colors has increased the number of fountain pen users, and thus expanded the market size. The demand for luxury fountain pens including limited editions is rising among core users. Moreover, due to the increased demand for using water-based markers to decorate agenda planners and cards, as well as to post illustrations on social media, sales of water-based marker pens is strong, particularly for those with rich color variation including pastel colors and trending colors.


 

Future Outlook

Size of the domestic stationery and office supply market is expected to attain 401,600 million yen for FY2022, up 0.5% from the previous fiscal year. It is a mature market, where the decline in demand is structurally inevitable due to decreasing population led by aging society with low birthrate. Moreover, the impact of the pandemic, which had devastating influence on the market in FY2020, is still affecting the market negatively, increasing uncertainty about the future.

Under the circumstances where the growth in corporate demand is becoming more sluggish, makers of stationeries and office supplies are increasingly inclined to develop products for personal use. Furthermore, some companies are reinforcing overseas business, while also going into mergers and acquisitions to enhance their business domain.


 

Research Outline