Every year, CPhI Worldwide succeeds in breaking records. This year’s event at the Feria de Madrid is expected to be no different.

Madrid last hosted CPhI Worldwide and its collocated events in 2009, with the organisers expecting a cautious atmosphere due to the unsettled state of the economic climate at the time. However, despite the fact that total number of attendees was down by about 300 compared with the 2008 event in Frankfurt (attributed to the fact that many exhibitors assigned fewer staff to the event), the total number of visitors showed an increase of 5%. Exhibitor numbers also reached a record high of 1808, up by more than a hundred compared with 2008.

The 2010 CPhI Worldwide event, held in Paris, featured a huge 14% increase in attendees compared with 2009. Exhibitor numbers also reached a new record of 1934. Significant growth was also seen in the co-located events, with ICSE being 24% larger than 2009 with 100 new exhibitors and more than 50 new packaging exhibitors, and P-MEC being 25% larger.

Records were one again broken in 2011 in Frankfurt, with 2200 exhibitors and attendees (no number given on the official CPhI website) estimated at smashing all previous records. P-MEC grew by approximately 44% compared with 2010 and ICSE also fared well with more than 220 exhibitors (down compared with previous years due to the introduction of the new InnoPack event).

“The scale of the events has grown exceptionally over the years. As an events organiser, it is important to us that the size does not change the opportunity for each visitor to have a unique and personal experience and we invest a large amount of time and money to ensure this," Greg Kerwin, UBM’s Portfolio Director Pharma, said in a statement. "Despite the financial challenges that still remain globally, to have a year like we just did in Frankfurt means that we are succeeding and that our client base sees the value of these events.”

The Pharmaceutical Technology Europe team attends CPhI every year and the event continues to be a success. This year, we will be based at Stand 10A23. We look forward to meeting you in Madrid!

In the meantime, let us know what your past experiences have been like at CPhI, and what you are expecting this year. You can either contact us on Twitter (PharmTech.com/Twitter), LinkedIn (PharmTech.com/LinkedIn) or leave a message below.