Retail sales of construction and earthmoving equipment increased in May after falling back in April. This returned sales to an upward path for this year after hitting a low point in January. Sales in May were over 2,600 units, still 19% below levels in the same period in 2023. The pick-up in sales in May is in line with expectations that the market is stable after a difficult start to the year, and equipment sales are expected to show modest growth in the coming months. Despite improvements this year, comparisons with sales last year are still negative due to the exceptionally high sales levels in the first half of 2023.
The pattern of sales for the major equipment types is shown in Graph 2, which compares sales in the first five months of the year with those in the same period in 2023. This shows percentage changes in sales for the different machine types. This continues to show that Wheeled Loaders (-20%) and Telehandlers (for construction) (-22%) were the two best-performing higher-volume products, showing the lowest falls in sales. Road Rollers continue to be the weakest performing product, with sales this year 62% below levels seen in the first five months of last year.
The pattern of sales on a regional basis in the UK is shown on the map (left) for sales in the first five months of the year compared with the same period in 2023. Not surprisingly, all regions continued to see declining sales compared with last year. London was the best-performing region this year, with sales at 18% below 2023 levels. In contrast, the West Midlands has shown the weakest sales, 49% below last year’s levels in the first five months, followed by Northern Ireland at 46% below 2023 levels.
Equipment sales in the Republic of Ireland are also reported in the statistics exchange. Sales in May were 11% below 2023 levels and as a result, sales in the first five months of this year are now only 9% behind 2023 levels. This was the first time this year monthly sales have been above 2023 levels.
The construction equipment statistics exchange is run by Systematics International Ltd. in partnership with the CEA
