According to a new report titled "The Future of Adhesives for Packaging to 2021" published by Smithers Apex, the global rigid packaging adhesives market was valued at $14.7 billion in 2016. The market is anticipated to reach $18.2 billion by 2021, witnessing a CAGR of 4.3% from 2016 to 2021. Growth of the global packaging adhesives market is reportedly being fueled by the increasing consumption of packaged food and consumer goods, mostly in Asia, Africa and the Middle East as these regions in transition to a more western-style of consuming food and other products. Expansion forecasts for Asia in the second half of the decade is less than 2011-2015 growth rates, although it is still stronger than the moderate growth that is predicted for the mature economies of North America and Western Europe. "Packaging is the largest application within the adhesive sector and continues to support the growing trend of consumerism, pre-packed food and other articles purchased in a packaged format. As urbanization worldwide continues to evolve, the habit of buying packaged goods in shops, supermarkets and convenience retail outlets will displace other means of obtaining goods, such as local markets," said John Nelson, commissioning editor at Smithers Apex. "Although this modern way of purchasing and preparing food is well established in advanced economic regions―such as North America and Western Europe―the move towards packaged food and supermarket shopping is still evolving in many regions―such as Africa and the Middle East. This is driving the demand for packaging materials which in turn use packaging adhesives." In terms of end-use application, the largest market is food, which continues to grow because of lifestyle and demographic changes. Smaller single packs in consumer food is increasing owing to changes in family structures, with the traditional nuclear family becoming a less frequent phenomena, and a corresponding increase in single-person households. The largest segment within this category is frozen and chilled food, which is anticipated to be about $749 million of this entire market for 2017 and is expected to grow to $1 billion by 2022. Growing demand for smaller single packs is also propelled by lifestyle changes and the desire for convenience, with the trend of consuming drinks and food on the go. This benefits the adhesives segment as smaller packs require proportionally more adhesive to deliver the same volume of products. These gains are being partially countered however by industry trends toward economy and new technologies that allow a smaller volume of adhesives to deliver the same bonding strength in key packaging formats.