Construction equipment market insights May 2026
Paul Lyons
·
3 minute read
Welcome to the latest edition of our bi-monthly market insights blog which brings together all the key aspects of the 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
Following two months of modest declines, retail sales of construction and earthmoving equipment bounced back in March with growth of over 9%. As a result, sales in the first quarter of the year reached 2.3% growth compared with Q1 last year. Unit sales of equipment were 7,100 in the first quarter, after reaching just over 29,000 units in 2025.
View the latest report on equipment sales for March (members only).
The April sales update will be published in the last week of May, so keep an eye out for that report.
The latest quarterly update on UK imports and exports of construction equipment for Q4 and the whole of 2025 was published in February. Imports and exports of construction and earthmoving equipment had different experiences in Q4 last year. Exports saw a significant rise compared with Q3, while imports saw a decline.
Exports of equipment showed a 23% increase in Q4 based on tonnage shipped, however, overall exports in 2025 were still slightly below the levels seen in 2024, with tonnage shipped 1.5% below 2024 levels. The USA remained as the most significant destination for UK exports last year, with tonnage shipped accounting for 21% of total exports. This is a lower share than earlier years despite quite a strong increase in Q4 exports. Most likely this was due to import tariffs being implemented in August.
UK imports saw a 15% decline in tonnage shipped in Q4, but despite this, the tonnage shipped in 2025 still ended up at 4.2% above the levels seen in the previous year. Japan remained as the leading source, accounting for nearly 27% of total imports on a tonnage shipped basis, and was more than double the level from China in second place.
UK trade in construction equipment in Q1 2026 should be available at the end of May.
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 latest Index showed a fall to the lowest level since November last year at 39.7 in April. Comments in the latest survey indicate that uncertainty due to the war in the Middle East contributed to subdued demand and a lack of new work last month. Not surprisingly all sectors continued to show a decline, but Commercial work (42.7) showed some resilience. Civil Engineering was the weakest segment in the April survey, falling to 35.3.
View the PMI for the UK construction market for April.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have published the latest data on construction activity for February this year. This showed 1% growth following an increase in activity of 0.5% in January. This pick-up in output followed a decline in the last quarter of 2025. However, due to growth in earlier quarters, output for 2025 showed 1.8% growth compared with 2024, which was the fifth consecutive year of growth.
The Construction Products Association (CPA) published their Spring forecast in May. In their latest update, overall construction output is expected to fall by 2.6% this year. This is a significant change to the Winter forecast which anticipated growth of 1.7% this year and reflects the impact of the conflict in the Middle East. The latest forecast anticipates that the impact of the war could hit construction activity for the next 12 to 18 months.
The latest construction market review published by Glenigan in April provided a mixed picture. This identified that planning approvals and new project starts both declined in the 3 months to March compared with the preceding 3 months. However, main contract awards showed a substantial increase compared with earlier months. The latest report highlights a cooling down within the construction sector this year with increased costs in the sector due to the conflict in the Middle East being a key factor.
There are many other key reports and indicators available on the construction equipment market insights area of the CEA website. 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 you as CEA members. 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.
You may also be interested in: