Thermal Transfer Ribbon Market Outlook:
Thermal Transfer Ribbon Market size was over USD 1.68 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 3.09 billion by 2035, witnessing around 6.3% CAGR during the forecast period i.e., between 2026-2035. In the year 2026, the industry size of thermal transfer ribbon is evaluated at USD 1.78 billion.
The growth of the market can be attributed to the increasing practices of cashless payments using barcode scanning. People are now more likely to use QR codes to complete transactions. Thermal printers carefully print these codes, which contain the bank information, to provide a crisper image, and it is anticipated to boost the growth of the market. The QR Code Reach growth increased by almost 96% between 2018 and 2020. According to a study of participants from the US and the UK, 47% of respondents were in favor of adopting QR codes.
In addition to these, factors that are believed to fuel the market growth of thermal transfer ribbon include the rising admission in hospitals, owing to COVID-19 and other chronic diseases. According to the World Health Organization, more than four out of every five deaths from CVD are attributable to heart attacks and strokes. Thermal printers are mostly used in the healthcare sector to record real-time rhythm strips on hospital cardiac monitors and also for printing patient identification. Moreover, the number of hospitals is also rising which in turn is driving the market growth. There were over 8,000 hospitals in Japan as of 2020. Moreover, in Korea, there were nearly 4ooo hospitals.
