On December 13, 2016, The Freedonia Group announced that demand for industrial fasteners in Western Europe totaled US$15.7 billion in 2015, representing the third largest regional market for these products behind the Asia/Pacific region and North America.  Western Europe has large aerospace equipment, electrical and electronic equipment, machinery, and motor vehicle manufacturing industries, all of which are major fastener markets.  As a result, overall intensity of product use (gauged against durable goods manufacturing value added) is much higher than the global average.  The West European fastener market tends to be highly cyclical, reflecting the maturity of manufacturing industries in the region.  Fastener demand in Western Europe grew less than one% per year between 2010 and 2015, constrained by limited growth in manufacturing markets and declining construction spending. These and other trends are presented in Global Industrial Fastener Market, 9th Edition, a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry research firm.
   Aerospace-grade fasteners account for an above average share of the West European sales total (11% in 2015), due to the large size of the region’s aerospace and defense equipment industries.  Aerospace-grade products account for particularly large portions of total fastener demand in France (where Airbus airliner models are assembled) and the UK (home to BAE Systems, a leading manufacturer of military aircraft, armored vehicles, and naval vessels).
   Like their counterparts in the US and Japan, leading West European fastener manufacturers are highly sophisticated technologically, offering a wide variety of product types.  Germany is the leading fastener producer in the region, followed by Italy, France, Spain, and the UK.  The regional trade surplus in these products totaled US$1.6 billion in 2015.  Countries in the region engage in extensive fastener trade with Eastern Europe.