For many years, it seemed that continental Europe suffered a dearth of dedicated paint and coatings market research reports; understandably so, given the linguistic variety needed to do them outside business English. Year-end is always a good time to anticipate what lies ahead.

Currently, there is a glut of market research reports that illuminate the future of the European sector. Much of what emerges now is being driven by technology and technical cooperations; the once-favored route of anabolizing market share through M&A is largely dead (short of the latest surprise AkzoNobel/Axalta deal!)

Future gains will be hard-won through client, upstream and downstream cooperation. What can be concluded is that paint companies have to be firing on every front in order to progress business; that means cooperating with application technology developers, engaging with companies that can supply artificial intelligence systems, and re-thinking the ways that they do marketing, since people spend more time online and buy online.

Some recent reports on the European paint and coatings sector for your consideration:

• Europe Paints Coatings Market from Market Research Future (MRF) covers the big five markets in Western Europe, Russia and then the rest of Europe.

• Europe Paints and Coatings Market Size & Share Analysis – Growth Trends & Forecasts (2025 – 2030) from Mordor Intelligence (MI) covers the big five markets in Western Europe, Russia and Türkiye and then the rest of Europe.

• EMEA Paints and Coatings Market (2025 – 2033) (Grand View Research) (GVR) covers a broader geography to include the Middle East and Africa. The scope of this report is quite unusual and only has five European countries (Spain, Greece, Italy, Poland and Turkey) but covers a further 11 in the MEA region, among them South Africa, Egypt and Iran.

Collective General Remarks and Trends

Two of the reports arrive at a conclusion of the European paint and coatings market being worth almost US$41 billion in 2025 (MRF), reaching values of about US$54.5 billion by 2035 (MRF), passing through about US$44 billion by 2030 and growing at about 2.9% p.a. The figures from Mordor Intelligence are very similar.

The perspective from Grand View Research places the wider EMEA paint and coatings market at US$77.8 billion, but with Europe accounting for more than 80% of that figure. It places annual growth at 4.2% across those combined regions between 2025 and 2033 (but note the earlier comment on the unusual geographical scope of this report, which omits Germany, UK and France).

Most assessments of the market now place decorative paints at around 45% of the demand, a considerable departure from the days when decorative paint was almost universally reckoned to account for 60-66%. When the MEA region is included, as in the GVR report, the share of architectural coatings reaches almost 50%, since rapid urbanization is taking place in parts of the Middle East (GVR).

Unsurprisingly, acrylics are noted as dominating the market, which arises through their use in emulsions and from their versatility in the industrial coatings sector – with ever greater shifts to waterborne coating technologies continuing to be witnessed.

Another emerging general trend is that of extending substrate and product lifetimes (which correlates with the EU’s agendas on efficiency and extends the circularity cycle) so that superior coatings technologies are being employed. Polyurethane coatings are emerging as the winner in this regard, playing on their twin strengths of performance and longevity (MRF).

Topics in Construction and Decoration

Greater emphasis is now falling on the development and sales of energy-efficient and sustainable paints and coatings as governments implement increasingly stringent regulations in a trickle-down from the EU’s Green Deal (MRF, GVR).

Interior primers, elastomeric sealers and low-VOC topcoats are among the typical formulations now being specified in the greening up of European architecture. Countries with older housing stocks, such as Spain, Italy and France, are moving towards multi-layer coatings applications (MI).

In the more purely decorative sector, a greater awareness of aesthetics with decorative finishing is placing a higher emphasis on both function and finish quality. Increasing investment in infrastructure and building renovations in line with eco-friendly specifications are major drivers in the building paints sector (MRF).

Germany remains the largest national paint and coatings market, but the UK emerges as the country with the fastest-growing demand, which mirrors a surge in construction and renovation projects (MRF).

The Italian paint and coatings market is also expected to grow most significantly, by 4.5% p.a. The strong sense of aesthetics associated with Italy drives the market for sophisticated and distinctive finishes, often with mimicking effects (GVR).

In the MEA region, Saudi Arabia and the UAE continue to invest heavily in major projects that consume paints and coatings. The construction of sustainable cities is now a strong driver of demand for formulations from top producers such as AkzoNobel and Jotun (GVR).

More Specific Latest Trends

Self-cleaning coatings and those with superior resistance to environmental factors are gaining ground where more innovative technologies are concerned. Coatings with additional functionality, such as heat resistance, anti-fungal and anti-corrosive properties, are in demand from major consumers such as the construction and automotive sectors, thereby helping to extend performance and product lifetimes.

Innovative coatings formulations are driving demand in different industrial applications such as furniture and automotive finishing as well as construction paints (MRF). In the automotive sector, Volkswagen has been drawing on innovation-led anticorrosion coatings that extend vehicle lifetimes as well as offering superior resistance to environmental factors, while BMW is now favoring BASF’s more sustainable coatings that reduce energy consumption at the curing stage (GVR).

New electric vehicles demand water-based coatings and UV-curable coatings that will help companies to reach net zero targets.

Developments in modern application technologies are another key area for industry and collaboration; this being driven by sustainability and efficiency, so that environmental impacts and waste are reduced. The various domains of spraying, advanced curing and electrostatic application are all gaining increased attention and are being supplied with higher-tech coatings that increase efficiency (MRF).

Offshore wind capacity is expected to grow by 10 times by the arrival of the next decade and is a huge growth market for corrosion-resistant coatings, especially epoxy-urethane types. There is momentum for nations bordering the North Sea as well as the Baltic Sea, where ice-resistant coatings are favoured by participants from Finland and Estonia (MI).

BASF has reportedly entered into an agreement with a technology provider for the development of next-generation coatings that will be formulated with the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Agreements like this for the industry will be vital to accelerating rapid research and will be instrumental in allowing companies to compete more effectively in the race for market share (MRF).

E-commerce is making greater inroads, which means that paint companies are having to re-think their approaches to sales and marketing (MRF).