Balloons play a significant part in almost every celebration ranging from birthdays to political conventions. Have you ever thought of the origin of the balloons? In 1824 British scientist Prof. Michael Farraday invented the first rubber balloon at the Royal Institute in London to use in one of his experiments. In the following year, Thomas Hancock who was a rubber manufacturer patented and introduced the first latex balloon to the consumer market. However, it was not until 1847 the vulcanized latex balloon that we use today was introduced to the market by James G Ingram. This was the beginning of the multi-million dollar party balloon industry.

Even though the UK market embraced the latex balloon immediately, the USA did not manufacture balloons until the early 1900s. Upon introduction to the North American hemisphere, the party balloon industry boomed. The sausage balloon was invented in 1912 in the USA and by the 1930s and 1940s Americans had started using it to model latex balloons into various shapes and animal figures. Until the foil balloon was introduced to the party balloon industry in 1970, the latex balloon monopolised the market. The aluminized plastic film used in the foil balloons are versatile in many ways – they have the capability of maintaining the shape better and longer, which contributes to their unbeatable popularity in parties and events globally.

Millions of latex balloons and foil balloons of all imaginable designs, colours, sizes and shapes are released to the consumer market. Statistics state that in California alone, 50 million balloons are sold at wholesale stores!

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Impact of COVID-19 on the Balloon Industry

Prior to the pandemic, party balloon industry giants such as Latex Occidental,  CTI Industries, and  BELBAL earned significant annual profits in the hundred million dollar range. To put the market domination of these three giants into perspective, in 2016 Latex Occidental owned 1.846% of the global party balloon industry market share while CTI Industries and BELBAL owned 1.129% and 1.116% respectively (MarketWatch).

While many industries were severely affected by COVID-19, Dan Flynn, the chairman of Balloon Council, which is a prominent industrial trade group, stated that the latex balloon and foil balloon industries have acted differently throughout the pandemic. He says even though the sales were slow during the initial stages of the pandemic due to lockdowns, it picked up as the consumers started purchasing balloons in larger quantities than usual from supermarkets. 

Balloon Industry Forecast for the Next 5 Years

Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, in 2019, the global party balloon industry was worth $647.3 million. It is predicted to reach $865.5 million by the end of 2026, which is a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.2% during the coming 5-years (MarketWatch). Meanwhile, some industry specialists anticipate slow growth throughout 2020 and the first quarter of 2021. Nevertheless, the recovery period could vary due to the nature of the party balloon industry and consumer behaviour.

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