Global Equipment Sales
Unexpected pandemic bounce
Equipment sales in the 2010s
- After a period of weakness in the early and mid-part of the 2010s, global equipment sales picked up at the end of 2016.
- Robust growth followed in 2017 and 2018, taking the global market to a record 1.1 m units sold in 2018.
- This level was more or less maintained in 2019.
- The market began to soften and it was anticipated that 2020 would see a modest downturn in global construction equipment sales.
Covid-19
As the pandemic took hold around the world and national lockdowns came into force it was feared that global markets would crash and declines of 20-40% were anticipated in worldwide equipment sales. However, the final result for 2020 was that there was almost no change in global sales. Indeed, it is striking that the market performed better in the pandemic than it was expected to prior to the Covid outbreak.
2021 and beyond
According to Off-Highway Research, 2021 could see record-high levels of equipment sales. Beyond 2021, the forecast is for continued high equipment sales worldwide.
construction output growth
According to analytics company Global Data, global construction output will see growth of 5.7% in 2021. This predicted growth would be a robust figure, given that the industry saw a 2.4% decline in 2020 and that cases of those infected with Covid-19 is still high around the world.
Many markets have managed to regain growth momentum and have already returned to pre-Covid-19 levels. Out of 65 markets that have produced quarterly data for the first quarter of 2021, 25 had recorded yearon-year (Y-o-Y) growth in that period, including China,
France, Italy, India and Saudi Arabia. While the report does acknowledge that, apart from Covid-19, the industry has a number of issues such as disruptions to supply chains and materials shortages it pointed to the high level of construction activity around the world as being very positive
