French PPE Growth Opportunities

Increased Employer Consciousness about Worker Safety Drives Future Growth Potential

The French PPE market was worth €1.3 billion in 2021 and will reach €1.5 billion by 2026, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.3% from 2021 to 2026. Stricter safety regulations and increased manufacturing and construction employment will boost growth during the forecast period. Industry feedback shows that the demand for high-quality durable products, comfort, and economical pricing are top consumer preferences.

The most-purchased PPE products in France are hand protection, protective clothing, and foot protection products, which account for 69.7% of the total market revenue. Higher replacement rates and large-scale use of these products as basic protection equipment across diverse industries will contribute to revenue growth.

The French government announced France’s Recovery and Resilience Plan in 2021, which will boost the domestic manufacturing industry and generate employment in the country. Other plans, such as Personalised Guidance Towards Employment And Autonomy (PACEA), will help train young workers to join the workforce. Additionally, the government’s plan to restore old infrastructures and develop new ones will generate employment in the construction industry and increase the PPE product demand in these end-use industries.

The European Union (EU) passed new regulations (2016/425) in April 2018, which became active in April 2019 and will create higher awareness of risk prevention in manufacturers and consumers, enhance PPE product traceability, and bring safer PPE products to the market.

The French PPE market is highly fragmented, with many local and international companies. Distributors play a major role in the French PPE market and facilitate significant business. Increased competition has caused price pressures and resulted in price reductions by hampering companies’ revenue growth.

Local French PPE production is limited, and Asia, North Africa, and Eastern Europe export raw materials and end products into France. Higher labor and production costs have caused lower domestic PPE production.

Connected PPE is an area of interest to French manufacturers, and players are positive about integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-based technology in their products. For instance, T2S and NOV'IN developed a new AI-based lone worker alert device called Dati Plus, which integrates with the worker’s hi-vis PPE. This device sends reliable alerts to the company’s other employees if the isolated worker has an accident.

In 2019, a French connected PPE technology provider, Intellinium, collaborated with L'Organisme Professionnel de Prévention du Bâtiment et des Travaux Publics (OPPBTP), a safety and prevention organization for construction workers in France, to provide Construction 4.0 Smart PPE to prevent and reduce occupational accidents in the construction industry. This smart PPE combines a worker-mounted safety pod and an equipment/infrastructure-mounted detection pod. The detection pod can detect a potential threat and notify the safety pod about it. This technology can prevent accidents, such as collisions or falls on roads, highways, and construction and forbidden sites and collisions between construction workers.