UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, recently released the 8^th edition of its “The Trade Fair Industry in Asia Report” that indicated the major markets in the region, such as China, Hong Kong and India, have finally started to slow in growth, while Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore and Malaysia, saw huge gains.

The report, which consists of more than 120 pages of data and analysis, was compiled by Hong Kong-based Business Strategies Group and is available for download HERE.

BSG’s research showed that the overall exhibition industry in the region still continues to expand, with 15.2 million square meters of exhibit space sold in 2011, which is 2.6-percent higher than 2010.

The majority of the space sold was in China, 55 percent, and 12 percent was sold in Japan. Among the 1,905 trade fairs included in BSG’s database, 855, or 45 percent, were held in those two countries. Hong Kong, Korea and India comprise the rest of the top five.

Growth in the exhibition industry was highest in Southeast Asia last year. Singapore and Malaysia were the fastest-growing markets in 2011, up 15 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

The market in the Philippines grew by 8.8 percent. Vietnam was the only exception to this Southeast Asian growth trend, posting gains of just 1.2 percent.

The larger exhibition markets grew notably at a slower pace in 2011. Asia’s largest market, China, grew by 2.5 percent, while India posted an increase of 3.3 percent. Two other large markets, Korea and Hong Kong, grew by 2.2 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

Three exhibition markets contracted in 2011: Australia slipped by 1 percent and the small exhibition market in Macau dropped by almost 11 percent.

Japan, the second largest exhibition market in Asia, contracted by nearly 3 percent, following the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident.

The industry that dominated most of the space sold was engineering and industrial goods accounting for 1,641,000 square meters.

The general, furniture and electronics industries also all had space sold of more than 1 million square meters.

The total venue capacity in Asia at the end of 2012 will be almost 6,490,000 square meters, a substantial increase from 3 million square meters recorded in the first edition of the UFI/BSG report in 2005.

By the end of 2012, the total number of venues in Asia will be 187. Of that figure, there will be 97 venues in China. India will have 13 venues, and Japan and Korea will each be operating 12 venues.

Exhibition industry growth in 2011 was somewhat lower than expected. In 2011, BSG forecasted growth of 4.5 percent in year-on-year exhibition space sales, and the actual figure was 2.6 percent.

In 2012, BSG is forecasting growth of 2.5 percent year-on-year in exhibition space sales. This will result in total space sales of 16.3 million square meters.

Despite expected economic weakness in the U.S. and Europe, BSG expects growth in the Asian exhibition industry to be driven in large part by increased intra-Asian trade.

Growth in Southeast Asian exhibition markets is forecast to be strong in 2012 – similar to last year. Major markets, including China, India and Korea, are forecasted to grow more slowly in the range of 2 percent to 3 percent.

The “Trade Fair Industry in Asia” report is available for download HERE.