Asia-Pacific has overtaken Europe in the number of exhibition venues offering at least 100,000 square meters of indoor space, according to the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI).
Its 2026 World Map of Exhibition Venues, produced by exhibition industry consultancy jwc, counts 41 venues of that size in Asia-Pacific and 38 in Europe. The two regions shared the lead in the previous edition.
Worldwide, UFI identified 1,565 venues with at least 5,000 square meters of gross indoor exhibition space. Their combined capacity reached 45.2 million square meters as of Dec. 31, 2025, an increase of 35 venues and approximately 900,000 square meters from the previous edition.
A SHIFT IN THE FLOOR PLAN
Asia-Pacific accounts for 38.3 percent of global exhibition capacity, or 17.3 million square meters. Europe follows with 35.8 percent, while North America holds 16.7 percent.
Meanwhile, Central and South America and the Middle East and Africa increased their combined share to 9.3 percent, up from 8.4 percent a year earlier. Their respective shares now stand at 4.8 percent and 4.5 percent.
At the country level, China holds 30.7 percent of global capacity, followed by the United States at 13.9 percent and Germany at 7 percent. Together with Italy and France, those five countries account for almost 63 percent of the world’s indoor exhibition space. Seven countries each offer more than 1 million square meters.
The Canton Fair Complex in Guangzhou, China, remains the largest venue, with 504,000 square meters. However, smaller facilities make up most of the market: 62 percent of venues offer less than 20,000 square meters, while only 84 facilities worldwide reach the 100,000-square-meter threshold.
THE RIGHT SIZE FOR THE MARKET
Jochen Witt, president and CEO of jwc, said venue planning requires more than pursuing the largest footprint.
“Market requirements are rapidly changing, and venue sizes and qualities need to adapt,” Witt said. “Chasing the largest footprint is no longer suitable; successful destinations need to match capacity and quality to meet market requirements.”
The report includes detailed profiles of 22 countries and markets with more than 300,000 square meters of indoor exhibition space each, along with profiles of five world regions.
EUROPE’S SPACE IN USE
A separate UFI report released Oct. 22 provides a picture of exhibition activity in Europe. Euro Fair Statistics 2025 covers 1,758 exhibitions across 13 countries, representing approximately half of the European exhibition market, according to UFI’s estimate.
Those events accounted for 19.4 million square meters of net rented space, 503,552 exhibiting companies, and 49.9 million visits. The figures describe activity across the covered exhibitions; visits do not represent a count of unique individuals.
Of the exhibitions studied, 38 percent targeted trade visitors, 21 percent targeted public visitors, and 41 percent served both groups. The total also includes 209 exhibitions carrying the UFI Approved Event designation.
The European findings draw on certified data from 10 contributing industry bodies and partners. Unlike the World Map’s measure of available gross indoor capacity, the European report tracks net space rented across events during the year. The two space totals therefore measure different things and are not directly comparable.
Both reports are available free through UFI’s online research collection.
Founded in 1925, UFI represents exhibition organizers, venue operators, associations, and industry partners. Its research reports are available at ufi.org/knowledge-hub.
Press releases submitted by UFI. Edited by Exhibit City News for clarity, length, and style.
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