CECE: European Construction Equipment Sales Up 4.6% in Annual Economic Report

CECE has released its Annual Economic Report 2026, which points to a moderate recovery in Europe’s construction equipment sector. As set out in the report, the market appears to have reached its low point in 2025, closing the year with a 4.6% increase in sales and early signs of stabilisation. The publication is accompanied by a tailor-made video and outlines a cautious baseline for 2026, with single-digit growth described as a realistic outlook for the European market. The report also frames the industry as being at a decisive moment, with the pace of improvement tied to economic and political framework conditions put in place over the coming months.

Europe’s macro picture remained tough in 2025. The report estimates GDP growth at around 0.9%, with investment still constrained and consumer spending only edging up. Interest rates have stopped rising and are starting to stabilise, but they are still well above pre-2022 levels, continuing to squeeze household budgets and hold back real estate investment. Against that backdrop, construction activity across Europe stayed uneven.
Even so, 2025 appears to have been the turning point for machinery demand.

As the report sets out, the European construction equipment market halted its downturn and returned to moderate growth, with sales up 4.6% year on year. The weakest area remained residential building, reflecting the housing slump across most major European markets. Overall construction output was broadly flat, as roughly 3% growth in civil engineering and infrastructure helped offset the decline in building. In that context, infrastructure spending continued to act as the sector’s main stabiliser, making 2025 a transition year with still-fragile growth drivers.

The 2026 outlook is brighter, with the report pointing to moderate market growth of around 2% to 2.5%. Stabilising interest rates, a gradual return of private investment and the continuation of infrastructure programmes are expected to provide the main support. The expected improvement is tied to a housing recovery after two years of sharp decline, alongside higher investment linked to the energy transition and infrastructure development. Still, the report frames this as a gradual upturn rather than a rapid bounce, with momentum depending more on macro conditions and public investment choices than on a spontaneous surge in demand. Structural headwinds remain in view. The report highlights concerns around overregulation and unfair competition, as well as uncertainty linked to the US market. It argues that tackling these issues will require closer coordination between the industry and policymakers at both EU and national level.

“While the economic downturn is behind us, the challenges facing European manufacturers are far from over. Trade barriers are rising, Chinese competition is intensifying, and over-regulation continues to weigh on Europe’s industry. With exports to key markets such as the United States under severe pressure, Europe must focus on strengthening its own market. In a changing global economic landscape, a strong European construction market with a genuine level playing field is more essential than ever.”

Said Riccardo Viaggi, CECE Secretary General.

US outlook

On the US side, the report points to a market with less clear momentum heading into 2026. The deck points to a softer macro backdrop and a less supportive mix of demand drivers, with below-trend GDP growth weighing on construction activity and leading indicators sending mixed signals: the Architectural Billings Index is characterised as weak, even as the Dodge Momentum Index shows improvement. The recent lift from non-residential and infrastructure work has started to fade, with housing still constrained by affordability and the boost from the IIJA infrastructure package easing as much of its stimulus component has already been spent.

The update also notes that Biden-era manufacturing stimulus programmes, including the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS, are expiring, removing an outsized source of growth for semiconductor and EV battery plant construction. Data centre expansion has helped offset the decline in traditional office development, but the deck cautions that this cycle may be nearing an endpoint. Warehousing is also slowing after the pandemic and supply-chain surge, with tariffs adding further complexity, while retail construction remains stuck in low growth as e-commerce continues to gain share. Institutional construction is described as offering a narrowing range of potential, and the infrastructure outlook is increasingly segmented, with spending growth reverting toward standard Highway Bill increases after the IIJA surge and any upside linked to specific pockets such as air-traffic-control modernisation, near-term power investment, and water projects driven by state and local PFAS mandates. Against that backdrop, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is presented as more supportive for consumers and equipment manufacturers than for construction activity itself, reinforcing why US visibility remains a key variable for the sector.

CECE: European Construction Equipment Sales Up 4.6% in Annual Economic Report published on The HeavyQuip Magazine.