According to a recent study conducted by the UFI and BSG, 2,353 exhibitions were held in Asia in 2017, reflecting an increase of 83 compared to the previous year, while the number of exhibitions held in Asia has grown at an average rate of 4% since 2013.

Asian Exhibition Industry Trends through ‘The Trade Fair Industry in Asia’ as revealed by the International Exhibition Association (UFI) and BSG

Number of Asian Exhibitions from 2013-2017

Source: Global MICE insights (2019). Analysis of latest statistics on Asian Exhibition Industry

In 2017, Asian exhibition space totaled 22,307,250m2 with an increase of 1,451,500m2 year-on-year, was up 7.0%. This space also continued to grow at an average of 6.3% from 2013 to 2017. However, the average exhibition area per exhibition was 9,480m2, which has not yet exceeded 10,000m2 per case.

Meanwhile, the growth rate of the entire Asian exhibition industry during 2013-2017 was 27.8% based on net area. Macau showed the highest growth for the same period.

In addition, among the top five countries in Asia, namely China, Japan, India, Korea, and Hong Kong, India saw the fastest growth, at 38.9%, from 854,750m2 in 2013 to 1,187,000m2 in 2017.

In terms of the number of events, about 30% of the total 2,353 exhibitions were held in Asia in 2017, with 704 held in China. The detailed rankings of the countries include China in first place (704), Japan in second (305), India in third (204), Australia in fourth (195), Korea in fifth (171), Taiwan in sixth (138), Thailand in seventh (92), Hong Kong in eighth (90), Malaysia in ninth (83), and Indonesia in tenth (77). The average number of Asian exhibitions was 138, with China, Japan, India, Australia, and Korea, holding more exhibitions than the Asian average.

The industry sector which took up the largest exhibition space in Asia in 2017 was ‘Engineering, Manufacturing, Machinery, Hardware, etc.’ with an annual exhibition area of 2,556,500m2, accounting for 11% of the total. It also accounted for about 10% of the total annually since the first Asian exhibition report published in 2005.

In the second place was ‘General Products (1,974,000m2)’, third ‘F&B, Hospitality (1,944,500m2)’, fourth ‘Automotive (1,540,750m2)’, and fifth ‘Leisure, Hobbies, and Entertainment (1,483,750m2)’.