World demand for agricultural equipment is expected to increase 6.7 percent per year through 2016 to $173.5 billion. Growth will be driven primarily by sales gains in rapidly developing nations -- particularly China, Brazil, and India -- as these countries continue to mechanize their agricultural sectors. Population expansion and strong economic growth in these nations will put increasing pressure on their agricultural sectors to become more efficient and productive, resulting in a rise in farm machinery sales.
Agricultural machinery demand in the Asia/Pacific region was more than twice that of any other region in 2011. China and India will be the primary nations fueling future market advances in this region, although other smaller markets, including Thailand and Indonesia, will also expand rapidly through 2016. The Central and South America region will post strong sales gains through 2016 as well, powered by growth in Brazil and other countries with large, increasingly mechanized agricultural sectors, including Argentina.
In the industrialized world, North America and Western Europe will both record below-average growth in farm equipment sales through 2016. Demand will be driven by technological advances, as the efficiency gains afforded by newer equipment with more sophisticated technology will make it economically feasible for farmers to replace their machinery more frequently. Conversely, many farmers delayed replacing their older machinery during the 2008-2010 economic crisis, avoiding major purchases of new machinery because of an uncertain economic environment. As a result, 2011 was the beginning of a spike in demand for agricultural machinery as better economic conditions prompted farmers to finally replace older machines. Since the average replacement cycle is generally eight or nine years, high demand in 2011 means many farmers may not replace machinery in 2016, constraining agricultural equipment demand through the forecast period.
Farm tractors the largest product segment in 2011, represented 30 percent of all agricultural machinery sales. Plowing and cultivating machinery is expected to be the fastest growing product type from 2011 to 2016, expanding 9.1 percent per year as farmers in developing nations purchase larger and more complex tilling equipment to in-crease the productivity of their land. Parts and attachments demand is projected to increase at the slowest rate, climbing 5.4 percent per annum through 2016 to $27.6 billion as the durability of new machinery continues to improve, limiting repair and maintenance spending.
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