Vending saw current value growth in South Africa in 2024. The vending industry continued to benefit from consumers’ busy lifestyles and its diversified offerings, leading to an increased demand for soft drinks and tissue and hygiene products, in particular. The channel’s performance was also supported by an increased number of petrol stations seeking to boost margins by introducing hot beverage vending machines. Such moves aimed to mitigate declining revenues from fuel sales.

As tobacco generates the vast majority of vending sales in Germany, the evolution of the channel is closely related to overall demand for cigarettes. Despite a modest temporary boost in sales of cigarettes in 2024, largely in anticipation of the introduction of higher taxes in 2025, the channel experienced structural challenges, including a long-term decrease in tobacco consumption, notably due to heightened health awareness among local consumers. Therefore, the declining demand for cigarettes w

In 2024, vending in Morocco experienced a modest increase in current value sales, supported by macroeconomic stability and ongoing investments in urban infrastructure. A key driver of this growth was the construction of modern office complexes in second-tier cities beyond the traditional urban axis of Casablanca, Rabat and Tangier. These business environments often include vending services as part of employee amenities. Additionally, changing lifestyles, particularly among young professionals, c

In 2024, vending sales in Mexico - specifically those located in public spaces - saw healthy growth in current value terms for the fourth consecutive year. Growth was stronger than that recorded during the previous year, largely driven by companies that have fully abandoned hybrid work models and returned to in-person operations.

Vending in Switzerland remains mainly limited to drinks, tobacco products, and foods and snacks vending. There are, however, a few exceptions and pilot projects offering other products from grocery retailers and drugstores, such as vending machines that offer an automated 24/7 service. With people spending more time away from home and on-the-go again, lives became busier and more hectic in 2024, and convenience became more important which helped to drive steady growth in vending in current value

Vending in the United Arab Emirates continued to record strong value growth in 2024, albeit from a low base. The channel is benefiting from ongoing infrastructure development and a growing need for convenience among consumers. This trend is further reinforced by innovations that provide more automated options, driven by the rapid expansion of digital payment capabilities. Additionally, product offerings are becoming increasingly diversified, as emerging brands in the beauty segment, for instance

Vending in the UK continued to record a strong performance in 2024, with local consumers increasingly valuing speed and accessibility in their shopping habits. Vending, offering quick, contactless transactions at all hours, has witnessed increased footfall in high-traffic areas such as transport hubs, workplaces, and universities, fuelling the strong growth for the channel in 2024. While inflationary pressures, including increased food and beverage costs, energy price hikes, and higher maintenan

Prevailing economic uncertainty and weak consumer confidence led to reduced spending on non-essentials in 2024, with many shoppers prioritising value and affordability. This had negative consequences for vending. Additionally, in the key area of hot drinks vending sales suffered from the increasing competition from foodservice, with consumers increasingly showing a preference for freshly prepared coffee and other hot drinks over the options served in vending machines. Furthermore, despite the pa

Vending saw strong current value growth in Ukraine in 2024. The vending industry in the country continued to evolve during the year, adapting to the economic and logistical challenges posed by the war. Despite disruptions in supply chains and power shortages, vending operators remained resilient by optimising locations and diversifying their product offerings. The focus shifted towards high-traffic areas such as metro stations, railway terminals, business centres, and various social facilities,

The performance of vending in the Czech Republic fluctuated during the review period. In terms of retail current value sales, the category made a recovery from the COVID-19-induced slump in 2020. Despite a dip in 2024, retail current value sales remained higher at the end of the review period, compared with the 2019 pre-pandemic level. However, much of the growth in retail current value sales was due to high inflation rates. At constant 2024 prices, a brief rebound in 2022 was followed by strong

According to Euromonitor’s Economies data, Japan experienced a notably calm growth rate of annual inflation over the past three decades, until the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022. From 1992 to 2021, only three years saw inflation rates exceed 1%, positive or negative – during the global financial crisis in 2008 (+1.4%) and 2009 (-1.3%), as well as in 2014 (+2.8%), when the consumption tax rose from 5% to 8%. However, a shift occurred in 2022, which recorded inflation of 2.5%, followed by 3.3

After seeing strong increases since 2021, vending continued to experience current value growth in South Korea in 2024, although at a slower rate, driven by the increasing popularity of activities outside the home. As people spend more time outside, demand for convenient, on-the-go purchasing solutions has risen, boosting the usage of vending machines.

In 2024, vending in Slovakia recorded retail value sales growth of 18%. It was a challenging year for the sector due to cautious consumer spending behaviour. Despite this, factors such as increased consumer mobility, tourism, strong employment figures and rising retail prices had a positive impact on growth within the category. A rising demand for convenience and on-the-go consumption drove sales. While hot drinks continued to be the most popular product sold through vending, other products regi

With consumer foot traffic and usage of public transport nearing pre-pandemic levels, spending on vending in Australia continued to recover, reaching close to 2019 value sales levels. With vending machines being present across locations such as train stations and shopping centres in the local market, greater mobility and consumers returning to their usual lifestyles continued to increase spending through this channel. However, the current economic climate has been challenging for vending machine

Vending in Singapore saw robust growth in 2024, driven by the increased number of social and outdoor activities now that the pandemic has largely receded. The city-state is currently hosting a variety of international and regional events that attract both visitors and locals, encouraging more people to move around the island on a daily basis. Many companies are also reversing the work-from-home trend and asking employees to come into the office more often than they did during the pandemic. Publi

Vending continues to grow in Saudi Arabia, driven by urbanisation, more office space and busier lifestyles. As the Saudi tourism industry emerges, more operators are strategically positioning their machines in popular tourism spots, making it easier to access international beverages. The vending industry is also steadily adopting advanced features, such as cashless payments, to attract tech-savvy consumers. As the industry becomes increasingly consolidated, smaller operators are struggling to ke

Value sales of vending in Hong Kong experienced modest 3% growth, continuing a positive trend from the previous two years due to the convenience of purchasing goods from vending machines in high footfall areas. After sales were negatively affected by the lack of mobility during the pandemic, they fully recovered to 2019 levels in 2023 after two consecutive years of double-digit growth.

The rise of smart vending machines helped to support sales in vending in Taiwan in 2024. Indeed, smart vending machines are leading a new trend, particularly in industries like food service and manufacturing that face significant labour shortages. As these sectors struggle to recruit employees, smart vending machines have emerged as essential solutions to meet the basic food and beverage needs of consumers and workers alike.

Vending saw a significant value crash in Portugal in 2024, having previously maintained relatively stable growth over the recent review period, bar a decline in 2019-2020 due to the pandemic restrictions in place at the time. Notably, drinks and tobacco vending is the largest area in vending, with tobacco being the main category. This means that new tobacco laws, which restrict the sale of tobacco through vending machines in most public places where smoking is prohibited, have had a significant

The year 2024 marked a recovery for vending, with the channel returning to value growth after a sharp decline in 2023. Given the economic uncertainty in recent years, it has been a challenging period for vending machines in terms of sales performance, with total value sales still well below pre-pandemic levels. Consumers have cut back on discretionary purchases of food and beverages, which includes vending products. Added to this, consumers have been going out less, whether it is attending event

The prevalence of vending machines in Vietnam is minimal, while small family-owned stores, street vendors and convenience stores are widespread throughout the country. As a result, demand for vending machines is relatively low. In addition, vending machine maintenance in Vietnam is risky in terms of theft and damage in the absence of adequate protection measures.

While vending in Chile had started to experience some innovation prior to the emergence of the pandemic, with consumer electronics and appliances, beauty and health care, and many other product categories slowly trialling the format, the impact of home seclusion and the growth of e-commerce and last mile players, has slowed the channel’s development in the country. Vending remains focused on food and drink, supported by developments of payment options, such as by card and digital wallets.

Current value sales continued to be modest for vending in Turkey in 2024. There are a limited number of vending machines across the country, mainly located in the underground stations in Istanbul and Ankara, with snacks and soft drinks being the most popular products sold through vending. With inflation still very high in 2024 – even higher than in 2023 - there was a steep fall in constant value sales.

Growth in vending current value sales in Hungary in 2024 was significantly slower than that recorded in 2023. This was mainly due to the easing of inflationary pressures fuelled by the global recovery from the pandemic and the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nonetheless, trade remained fairly robust overall thanks to the long-term trend towards busier lifestyles among local consumers. Demand was also buoyed by the tendency of people to spend increasing amounts of time outside the home a