The total numbers of new tractors sold globally last year have yet to be compiled, but what we can reveal is the worldwide five-year average from 2012 to 2016 was two million units. The slump in commodity prices and farm incomes caused the figure to fall slightly in 2016, but 1.9 million is still a heap of tractors.
According to Agrievolution (Global Alliance for Agriculture Equipment Manufacturing Association), India and China continue to account for over half of the total. Average farm size of around 0.7ha in both countries is much smaller than it is in Europe. So too is average tractor horsepower, but when combined the two giant Asian markets were responsible for 990,000 of all new tractors sold in 2016.
India, the world’s largest tractor market, took 570,000 of them, while China is a good second at 420,000. The figures are certainly impressive when you consider that both countries each took more new tractors that the combined total of Europe (165,000 in 2016) and the US (approx. 211,000 units).
