Top 10 Stationery Brands in the World 2020, Top Stationery Brands

The Current State of the Top 10 Stationery Brands in the World

The global stationery industry has seen immense growth over the years, leading to great profits for the top 10 stationery brands in the world — who are leading the way for the industry in 2020. The global stationery market size was valued at USD 90.6 billion last year and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.1%. The largest factor driving growth in the market is due to a promising global import market where demand is high and expansion is lucrative — led by the top stationery brands mentioned in this article. The fastest-growing markets in the industry are Europe, East Asia, and Central Asia. Europe and East Asia is the largest import market for stationery in the world, while China ranks as the number 1 exporter of office supplies in the world.

The stationery industry is a large segment of the overall office supply industry. The top 10 stationery brands in the world continue to expand to different markets worldwide as expansion seems to be a key aspect of this market. This fact sheet will outline what the top stationery brands are doing to see success and others can follow suit or connect with the best stationery brands to propel your business. This fact sheet will also go over the import and export markets to help you best understand which market is profitable in 2020.

This fact sheet is for you if you are trying to figure out:

How the market is evolving and your expansion opportunities are?
What are the future challenges and opportunities in the global stationery market?
What are the implications for different market segments?
What are the future trends of the stationery and office supply industry?
Understand the stationery and office supply industry size

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Stationery Industry Overview?

What is stationery? Stationery are the things needed for writing, such as paper, pens, pencils, and envelopes. Stationery products have been in the use for centuries. In the modern age, stationery products have evolved and have become better for use. As the volume of consumption continues to climb, the future of the global stationery industry looks promising.

In the stationery industry, manufacturers purchase supplies such as wood, plastic, and ink to create pencils and pens, art supplies, carbon paper or marking devices. Products are then sold to retailers, wholesalers, as well as large corporations. A vast majority of these products are then sold through mediators to businesses and personal consumers.

Top Stationery Industry Trends Driving Growth

Innovation: Demand for niche products is growing.
Marketing: In the school stationery segment, effective marketing campaigns have been key to success.
Social media and television, companies have had to invest in marketing to remain relevant and competent in the global stationary products market.

Ranking the Top 10 Stationery Brands in the World in 2020

The top 10 stationery brands in the world for 2020 have most been dominating the market for nearly centuries. These are companies that built the global stationery market and the products we use today commercially and for our business. This is BizVibe’s list of the top stationery brands in the world today.

1. Staedtler

Staedtler Mars GmbH & Co. KG is a German fine writing instrument company and a manufacturer and supplier of artist, writing, and engineering drawing instruments. The firm was founded over 184 years ago by J.S. Staedtler in 1835 and produces a large variety of writing instruments, including drafting pencils, ballpoint pens, crayons, propelling pencils, professional pens and standard wooden pencils.

The Staedtler product line consists of their writing implements category including products such as graphite pencils, mechanical pencils, leads, markers, ballpoint pens, rollerball pens, and refills. Their technical drawing category includes technical pens, compasses, rulers, set squares, drawing boards, and lettering guides in their product line. Their art materials category includes colored pencils, crayons, chalks, oil pastels, paints, modeling clay, and inks in their product line. Their accessories category includes erasers and pencil sharpeners in their product line.

Number of employees at Staedtler: 3000

2. Faber-Castell

Faber-Castell is one of the largest stationery brands in the world as of 2020, and a manufacturer and supplier of pens, pencils, other office supplies, and art supplies, as well as high-end writing instruments and luxury leather goods. Faber-Castell is headquartered in Stein, Germany, it operates 14 factories and 20 sales units throughout the globe.

Number of employees at Faber-Castell: 6,500

Faber-Castell Revenue: € 887 million

Faber-Castell’s Manufacturing Plants

Countries	Plant Name	Year Incorporated	Products Manufactured
Biafra	Enugu	1961	Skin tones wooden pencils
Costa Rica	Neily	1996	Wooden pencils & color pencils
Peru	Lima	1965	Ballpoint pens, Marker pens & fiber tips
Colombia	Bogotá	1976	Wax crayons & drawing accessories
Brazil	Prata	1989	Nurseries for pine trees and sawmill
Brazil	Manaus	1989	Erasers and writing instruments from plastic material
Brazil	São Carlos	1950’s	Wax crayons,drawing accessories, marker pens, text liners, erasers, fiber-tip pens,sharpeners,colored pencils and graphite pencils
India	Goa	1998	Wax crayons, marker pens, text liners, erasers, fiber-tip pens
Austria	Engelhartszell	1963	Ink & text liners
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	1978	Research & Development, Sales, erasers productions, ballpoint pens
China	Guangzhou	2000	Sharpeners, erasers and writing instruments from plastic material
Indonesia	Bekasi	1990	Wood case colored pencils and graphite pencils
Germany	Stein	1761	Research & Development, Marketing & Sales, Productions of premium writing instruments

Faber Castell has over 16 manufacturing plants in over 10 countries — making Faber Castell one of the leading companies among the top 10 stationery brands in the world.

Faber-Castell’s Product Line 2020

The Faber-Castell product line includes pencils (graphite and color), pastels, charcoals, erasers, sharpeners in their professional art and graphic category. Faber-Castell’s kids & school art and graphic category include pencils, watercolors, brushes, markers, crayons, erasers, sharpeners, modeling dough, oil pastels, papers, and connector pens in their product line. Faber-Castell’s technical drawing category includes mechanical pencils and refills in their product line. Their pens category includes fountain pens, ballpoint pens, and refills in their product line. Their luxury pens category includes fountain pens and ballpoint pens in their product line.

3. Maped

Maped is one of the top stationery brands as of 2020. Headquartered in Annecy, France, Maped is a family-run French manufacturer of scholastic and office stationery products. Maped has 9 subsidiaries in 9 countries making it one of the world’s top 10 stationery companies as of 2020.

Maped Product Line 2020

The Maped product line as of 2020 includes ballpoint pens and mechanical pencils in their writing category. Additionally, Maped’s school category includes compasses, erasers, pencil sharpeners, colored pencils, scissors, marker pens, rulers, and set squares in their product line. Their office category includes scissors, cutters, paper cutters, staplers, punches, and clips in their product line. Their craftwork category includes cutters, architect’s scales, angle templates, craft scissors, and hole punches in their product line.

4. Schwan-Stabilo

Schwan-STABILO is a German maker of pens for writing, coloring, and cosmetics as well as markers and highlighters for office use. The Schwan-Stabilo Group was established 165 years ago in 1855 and is the world’s largest manufacturer of highlighter pens, making it one of the top stationery brands in the world as of 2020.

Number of employees at Schwan-Stabilo: 3,335

Schwan-Stabilo Operating Income: € 373,000,000

Schwan-Stabilo Group Product Line 2020

The Stabilo is their stationery brand and one of the top 10 stationery brands in the world operating their writing instruments divisions including fountain, ballpoint, rollerball, and gel pens, graphite pencils, colored pencils, fineliners, highlighters, crayons, and pastels in their product line.

Schwan-Stabilo Group’s other brands include cosmetics company Schwan Cosmetics, and outdoor brands Deuter, Ortovox, Maier Sports, and Gonso.

5. Muji

Muji started back in 1980 selling only 40 products including pens, pencils, and notebooks from their stationery division. Muji is now one of the most recognized stationery brand names in the world, operating over 328 directly-operated stores, and supplies 124 outlets in Japan and 505 international retail outlets from countries like the UK, United States, Canada, South Korea, and China. Muji’s headquarters are in Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

Muji Product Line 2020

As one of the top 10 stationery brands in the world, Muji’s product line includes stationery, in addition to household goods, kitchen utensil, fashion, electronics, home appliances, cosmetics, food, furniture

6. KOKUYO

KOKUYO began as a supplier of account ledgers, and we continue to this day to manufacture and sell a variety of office paper products, as well as stationery products and PC-related products designed to provide ease of use for everybody in the office and school environments.

KOKUYO Product Line 2020

In 2011, KOKUYO acquired Camlin Limited and expanded to India. KOKUYO Camlin Ltd. product line includes paints, ink, and markers with factories in Tarapur, Taloja, Vasai, Jammu), Offices (Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, and three other places. Expanding its ventures has led KOKUYO to become of the top 10 stationery companies in the world.

KOKUYO Affiliated Companies (2020)

KOKUYO Product Shiga Co., Ltd.
KOKUYO MVP Co., Ltd.
KOKUYO Supply Logistics Co., Ltd.
IWAMI Paper Industry Co., Ltd.
KOKUYO Vietnam Co., Ltd.
KOKUYO Vietnam Trading Co., Ltd.
KOKUYO Commerce (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
KOKUYO-IK (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
KOKUYO Camlin Ltd.
KOKUYO RIDDHI PAPER PRODUCTS Private Ltd.
S&T Logistics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

7. Sakura Color Products Corporation

Sakura Color Products Corporation, headquartered in Morinomiya-chuo, Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan, is a Japanese stationery brand. Sakura initially started as a manufactuer of crayons and eventually invented the first-ever oil pastel.

Number of Employees at Sakura Color Products Corporation: 1,200

Sakura Color Products Corporation Revenue: ¥ 90 million

Sakura Color Products Corporation Product Line 2020

As one of the top 10 stationery brands in the world, Sakura is known for its famous stationery product line. The Sakura stationery product line includes ballpoint pens, gel ink pens, and refills under their pens category. Additionally, their pencils category includes mechanical pencils and colored pencils; their markers category includes water-based and permanent marker pens, highlighters, and brush pens in their stationery product line; their writing accessories category includes erasers, whiteboard erasers, and glue pens in the product like. Finally, Sakura’s art materials category includes crayons, pastels, oil pastels, watercolors, acrylic paints, gouaches, oil paints, water-soluble printing colors, brushes, and palettes in their product line.

8. Typo

Typo one of the top stationery brands in the world, operating under Cotton On Group — Australia’s largest global retailer, known for its fashion clothing and stationery brands. Cotton On is relatively new, founded in 1991, it expanded as a stationery brand in 2008 with Typo.

As one of the top 10 stationery brands in the world, Typo is known for its unique, fun and affordable stationery products.

Cotton Group Subsidiaries

Cotton On Body
Cotton On Kids
Rubi
Typo
Supré
Factorie
Lost
Cotton On Foundation

9. Canson

Canson is a French manufacturer of fine art paper and related products. Canson is one of the oldest companies in the world, founded in 1557. Canson currently operates in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australia.

Canson Number of employees: 450

Canson Product Line 2020

Canson’s product line includes watercolor, oil, acrylic, pastel, graphic arts, and printmaking products under its fine art category. Additionally, Canson’s product line includes school lines under their school category; architectural scale models products under their professional design category; printing & photography, technical drawing, and office products under their technical & digital category; handicraft and leisure photo paper products under their arts & craft category.

10. Crane Currency

Sold to Crane Company in 2017, Crane Currency is a manufacturer of cotton-based paper products used in the printing of banknotes, passports, and other secure documents. Crane Currency still operates under parent company Crane & Co. as one of the world’s top 10 stationery brands in the world.

Number of employees at Crane Currency: 1,000+

Crane Currency Revenue: US$450 million+ (2018)

These are the top 10 stationery brands in the world in the world as of 2020. These 10 companies have paved the way for the office supply industry, most of them for hundreds of years and will continue to lead the market manufacturing the writing materials, paper, envelopes, and all other office supplies consumers and businesses use daily.

Top Stationery Brands – Stationery Exports and Imports

The top stationery brands and manufacturers are always looking to expand their business internationally, however, targeting the correct market is crucial to success in these potential business ventures.

Top Stationery Import Markets in the World 2020

Region	Total Imports (US$ Billions)
Europe & Central Asia	$85.8 Billion
East Asia & Pacific	$32.8 Billion
North America	$26.9 Billion
Latin America & Caribbean	$14.5 Billion
Middle East & North Africa	$9.9 Billion
Sub-Saharan Africa	$4.9 Billion
South Asia	$4.6 Billion

Source: International Trace Centre (ITC)

The largest import market for stationery is Europe & Central Asia with nearly US$ 86 billion in stationery imports.
In Europe & East Asia, the countries with the highest volume of imports are Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Slovenia achieved a positive growth rate.
In East Asia & Pacific, the countries with the highest volume of imports are China, Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Australia.
South Korea, the Philippines, and Cambodia achieved high growth in imports making them great targets for expansion.
In Latin America & the Caribbean, the countries with the highest volume of imports are Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Guatemala, and Costa Rica.
Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Nicaragua achieved a positive growth rate.
In the Middle East & North Africa, the countries with the highest volume of imports are the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran, Morocco, Algeria, and Israel.
Both Morocco and Algeria achieved a positive growth rate.
Jordan and Djibouti also have positive growth in imports although on limited volume.
In North America, the countries with the highest volume of imports are the United States and Canada.
The USA has a positive year over year import growth rate.
In South Asia, the countries with the highest volume of imports are India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka, Nepal, and the Maldives achieved high growth in imports.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the countries with the highest volume of imports are South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Ethiopia.
Kenya and Ethiopia the highest growth rates.
Uganda, Madagascar, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo and Guinea achieved high growth in imports although on limited volume.

Top Office Supplies Exporting Countries in the World

Country	Total Exports (in million U.S. dollars)
China	$3,734.5
Germany	$1,494.8
Japan	$1,394.2
France	$970.9
United Kingdom	$862.2
Netherlands	$763.4
United States	$693.5
Mexico	$481.1
Czech Republic	$274.8
Republic of Korea	$274

Source: Statista

China is the leading exporter of office supplies in the world, exporting $3.73 billion US dollars worth to the rest of the world.
Germany and France round out the top 3 leading exporters of office supplies at $1.5 billion and $1.4 billion US dollars exporter to the rest of the world respectively.

The Future of the Top 10 Stationery Brands in the World

As the top 10 stationery brands in the world continue to dominate the global staionery market, expect to see very good expansion and new business opportunites in many markets around the world. The industry is changing due to time and technolgy but the demand is going nowhere anytime soon. Check out BizVibe and connect with the top stationery brands today.