The opposite of this outlook is to believe that tissue will never become popular in all regions,but instead remain a necessity in industrialised countries but a niche or even unpopular product in emerging countries with different cultures, religions and habits.

The midway view is to say that tissue will gradually penetrate new regions but never reach the same use intensity or per capita consumption as in the most advanced regions because of regional differences in lifestyle. Having followed market developments for a couple of decades, it appears the most likely outcome is somewhere between the two extremes. There are several factors driving tissue consumption. 

Population growth andeconomic developments are the two main factors.GDP growth does not have a very close relationship to tissue consumption in advanced economies, but is a barrier in the poorest countries. Demographic changes have a rather direct relationship with tissue consumption, provided economic development has reached a certain

level - typically this threshold is around US$3,000-4,000 of annual income per capita before tissue starts its penetration as a consumer product.

For this reason, the share of non-consumers of tissue is still relatively high in the poorest nations in Africa and Asia.