NPE2024 officials reveal final attendance figures

The final numbers are in, and the NPE2024 trade show in Orlando in May drew a total of 51,396 registrants from 133 countries.

In total, show officials said, the event saw a record-breaking number of international attendees, first-time attendees, and paid exhibit space (1,106,767 square feet).

The show ran from May 6-10 at the Orange County Convention Center.

“NPE2024 was truly a momentous event in plastics industry history,” said Matt Seaholm, the CEO of the Plastics Industry Association, which sponsors the show. “With an outstanding international turnout, NPE2024 is re-established as a global hub for the plastics industry, welcoming professionals and innovators from around the world. As we look ahead to our next show in 2027, we’re seeing incredible potential for more industry-shaping collaboration to establish a new standard for circularity and ground-breaking plastic applications.”

Additional NPE2024 numbers include:

• 15,156 international registrants from 133 countries, establishing NPE2024 as the most global show in the event’s history.
• 36,123 domestic registrants, making up 70 per cent of all registrants (this doesn’t include 0.23 per cent who did not respond).
• 20,378 first-time attendees, a nearly 9 per cent increase over NPE2018.

The results also revealed a significant growth in attendance across different regions, including:

• 4,438 Latin American (LATAM) registrants, 29.3 per cent of international registration and a 9.9 per cent increase of LATAM registrations compared to NPE2018. Significant registration increases were seen from countries including Brazil, Colombia and Guatemala.
• 2,801 European registrants, 18.5 per cent of international registration and a 23 per cent increase of European registrations over NPE2018 with the largest registration increase from Italy.

“This growing presence of European and LATAM registrants is indicative of the respective countries’ impact on the plastics industry,” said Dr. Perc Pineda, the Plastic Industry Association’s chief economist. “As the U.S. is the second largest importer of plastics machinery, accounting for 12 per cent of global imports, European countries make up six of the top ten countries supplying the U.S. in 2023, totaling $1.6 billion. Similarly, over the past five years, US exports of plastics machinery to Latin America have also grown by 6.5 per cent annually, supporting the region’s expanding plastics industry.”

In addition to the attendance results, NPE2024 marked the largest show in history with the following exhibit space statistics:

• 1,106,767 total paid exhibit space, designating an additional 10,581 square feet over NPE2018
• 2,202 exhibitors, a 10.3 per cent increase over NPE2018.

NPE2027 is set to return to Orlando from May 3-7, 2027.