Construction equipment market insights November 2025

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 

Sales of construction and earthmoving equipment showed a strong recovery in September, with growth of 13.6% compared with the same month last year. This took sales in the third quarter of the year to growth of just under 6%, not quite matching growth of close to 9% in the first two quarters. As a result, sales in the first nine months of the year have reached just under 23,000 units and are 8% above last year’s level during the same period. A slower rate of growth in sales is expected in the second half of the year, with a single digit increase in sales anticipated for the full year compared with 2024. View the latest report on equipment sales for September (members only).

The October sales update will be published in the last week of November, so keep an eye out for that report. 

The latest quarterly update on UK imports and exports of construction equipment for Q2 this year was published in August. Imports and exports both showed significant increases on Q1 levels and saw trade return to levels seen last year. Exports saw a 9% increase in tonnage shipped in Q2. The USA remained as the leading destination but saw its share of total exports fall to 19% in the first half of the year compared with 26% for the whole of last year. Most likely this was due to uncertainty over potential import tariffs being implemented. This has been followed up in August, with tariffs being implemented on equipment and components, which will impact on exports to the USA in the second half of the year.  

UK imports saw a significant 24% increase in tonnage shipped in Q2 and has seen Japan take over as the leading source this year compared with China last year. The latest report includes some additional analysis of import data for the first time. Imports have always been shown in the past by country of Dispatch, but in the Q2 update, analysis by the country of Origin is also included for trade this year for the first time. 

UK trade in construction equipment in Q3 2025 should be available at the end of November. 

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 September showed a further modest improvement on earlier months at 46.2 but is still not recording growth levels. This continues to reflect that the industry remains cautious about prospects for growth this year. Not surprisingly all sectors continued to show a decline in September. Housebuilding was the best performing sector (46.8), while Civil Engineering was the weakest.  

The PMI for the UK construction market for September can be viewed here:  

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have published the latest data on construction activity for August. This showed a small fall of 0.3%, following flat output in July. However, output in the first 8 months of the year to August is showing 1.5% growth compared with the same period last year. This follows a modest increase in output of 0.5% last year. The growth in output so far this year is a combination of 2.2% growth in new work and a 0.5% increase in repair and maintenance activity. 

The Construction Products Association (CPA) published their Autumn forecast in October. This anticipates lower growth of only 1.1% this year compared with 1.9% in the Summer forecast and more modest growth of 2.8% next year compared with 3.7% in the previous update. The latest forecast highlights uncertainty and lack of confidence within the industry ahead of the Budget.  

The latest construction market update published by Glenigan in October identifies that planning approvals, contract awards and new project starts have all declined in the last three months compared with the preceding three months. The latest report highlights that the UK construction sector struggled in the three months to September. Business confidence has fallen to low levels and is suppressing activity, while concerns over rising costs are also slowing construction ahead of the autumn budget.    

There are many other key reports and indicators available on the 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.