Construction equipment market insights March 2025

Welcome to the second edition of our bi-monthly Market Insights blog which brings together all the key aspects of the more detailed Market Insight Reports that I provide. I will be producing this overview and summary every other month to ensure that you don’t miss any of the key information we are sharing with members.

Equipment sales

Sales of construction and earthmoving equipment made an encouraging start to the year with sales in January at 7.4% above sales in the first month of 2024. Sales reached 1,750 units and represented the third month in a row where sales matched or exceeded sales in the same month in the previous year. As a reminder, 2024 ended the year with a relatively flat sales trend, but still ended up at 20% down on 2023 due to the weak start to the year. The good news is that most forecasts are pointing to modest ‘single figure’ growth in equipment sales in 2025.

Members can view the full report on the website.

The February sales update will be published in the last week of March so keep an eye out for that.

The latest quarterly update on UK imports and exports of construction equipment was published in February. Exports saw a modest pick-up in Q4, but tonnage of equipment shipped in 2024 still ended up at 10% below 2023 levels. The USA remained as the leading destination, accounting for over 26% of total exports. Imports of equipment remained on a downward trend in Q4 and ended up at 9% below 2023 levels for the whole of last year. China and Japan were the two leading sources for equipment in 2024, accounting for 30% of total imports.

The construction market

The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) provides a summary of all things construction from bricks to cement and is a good indicator of what is happening in the wider sector.

The Index in February showed a fall for the second month running and fell to the lowest level seen for five years at 44.6. Respondents highlighted poor demand conditions and delays to decision making in a subdued economic environment . The Housebuilding sector was the weakest in February, while the Commercial sector showed some resilience, but still indicated declining activity.

The PMI for the UK construction market for February can be viewed here.

The latest actual data for construction has been published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and covers December output. Despite showing a small 0.2% decline in output in December, the last quarter of the year showed a 0.5% increase in activity compared with Q3, and as a result, output for 2024 showed a 0.4% increase on 2023 levels. This increase in activity last year was very much a result of growth in repair and maintenance work which showed an 8.5% increase on 2023 levels. In contrast, new work in 2024 was 5.3% lower than the previous year.

Further to this, the Construction Products Association (CPA) published their Winter forecast in February. This anticipates growth in construction output of 2.1% this year, which is a slight reduction on the Autumn forecast which indicated a 2.5% increase in output in 2025. Growth is expected to be focused in the second half of the year, with stubborn inflation resulting in interest rates not been reduced as much as previously expected.

The latest construction market update published by Glenigan in February highlights a cautious start to the year, with planning approvals, contract awards and new project starts all showing lower levels in the three months to January compared with the previous three months.

In February, the Government announced the New Homes Accelerator Scheme as part of the activity to support plans to build 1.5 million new homes during the current parliament. This scheme is focused on reducing delays to housing developments via a range of activities to simplify planning applications. There have also been further Government announcements about support for infrastructure developments, with the most recent being the indication that they will approve plans for a second runway at Gatwick airport later this year.

There are many other key reports and indicators available on the Market Insights Area of the CEA website here. These are all Member Only resources, so I encourage you to take a look. 

I trust you find this summary useful and a good reminder of all the key industry statistics and indicators that are available to as part of CEA membership. If there are any other measures or metrics you would like me to take a look at please don’t hesitate to get in touch.