The Numbers Are In: PCB Demand Is Accelerating

The Global Electronics Association just released their April 2026 PCB industry data, and the numbers are significant: North American PCB bookings jumped 25.5% year-over-year , pushing the book-to-bill ratio to 1.24 — its strongest reading in over a year.

For those unfamiliar with this metric: a book-to-bill above 1.0 means new orders are exceeding shipments, building production backlog. At 1.24, fabricators are booking $1.24 in new work for every $1.00 shipped. This signals capacity tightening ahead.

Key Data Points

Bookings : Up 25.5% YoY, up 36.1% from March

Shipments : Up 5.8% YoY, up 15.6% from March

Book-to-bill : 1.24 (highest in 12+ months)

YTD bookings : +4.1% over 2025

YTD shipments : +8.9% over 2025

"North American PCB demand picked up noticeably in April. The three-month book-to-bill ratio climbed to 1.24, its strongest reading in more than a year," said Dr.…