Spain is a million-ton paint market and the country with the highest per capita paint consumption in Western Europe. These are two of the key findings in IRL’s latest report, “A Profile of the Spanish Paint Industry,” which presents a detailed look at one of Europe’s most important but least researched paint sectors.

The Spanish paint and coatings market has been estimated at 1,095,000 tons in 2006 and will demonstrate only mature growth of 2.5% per annum until 2011, when the market may reach 1.2 million tonnes. Based on a population of 44 million, per capita paint demand in Spain is higher than that of Germany since its population is almost half as much, but consumes only one-third less paint. Spain’s strong industrial economy and the construction sector contribute significantly to both industrial and architectural paint demand, IRL said.