BANNOCKBURN, IL – The global printed circuit board industry achieved an estimated 13.9% real growth in 2017, the fastest growth since the recovery year of 2010, according to a new IPC report.

China’s share of world PCB production continued to grow in 2017, accounting for more than half of world production value, says the report. Production in Taiwan and Japan declined as percentages of world production in 2017 due to continued off-shore investment. The greatest growth in the proportion of world PCB production in 2017 was seen in Vietnam and Thailand. Growth in Thailand’s industry, coupled with the continuing decline in the US industry share, caused Thailand to move ahead of the US and become the fifth-largest PCB-producing country in 2017, says IPC.

Despite its declining share, the value of US PCB production grew an estimated 5.9% in real terms in 2017. Although just 3.9% of world PCB production is done in the US, US-based companies own 6.5% of global production. Despite evidence of a small onshoring trend, most large US companies still produce a substantial share of their PCBs outside the US.