Martin Placek
Research expert covering transportation and electronics
Equipment rental market in Europe - statistics & facts
The purchase of new operating equipment has proved to be quite costly, heavily burdening companies’ overall capital expenditure. The option of equipment rental has offered more flexibility and greatly reduced equipment costs. Over the last decade, the global equipment rental market has grown continuously, reporting a revenue of 87.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. The European equipment rental market reported a turnover of about 25.2 billion euros. In 2020, the European equipment rental market experienced a significant decline amounting to 7.2 percent, which came as a result of a decrease in operations caused by lockdown regulations imposed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
What are the leading European markets?
The United Kingdom was the largest equipment rental market in Europe in 2021, with a market size of 5.9 billion euros. Germany came second, with a market size of 5.5 billion euros in the same period. Both the United Kingdom and German markets were expected to experience continued growth with forecasted revenue amounting to 6.7 and 6.2 billion euros respectively by 2023. In 2021, France experienced the highest growth, amounting to 11.6 percent. They were followed by Italy with 8.7 percent.Leading equipment rental companies in Europe
The French-based firm Loxam was the largest machinery and rental equipment provider in Europe, reporting a revenue of 1.9 billion euros in 2020. Second to Loxam, the Dutch providers Boels Verhuur recorded a revenue of about 1.2 billion euros in the same period. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the financials of Loxam, who recorded a global net profit of only 4.3 million euros but recovered in 2021. In the United Kingdom, United States-based Sunbelt Rentals had the largest equipment rental market share amounting to nine percent in 2021.
