UK retail sales of construction and earthmoving machinery in October were 11% above the numbers sold in October 2021.

Last month’s surge in plant sales means that sales over the first 10 months of the year have almost caught up with last year’s levels.

With 31,400 units sold in the yar to date, volumes are just, only 0.7% down on the first 10 months of 2021.

A feature of October’s sales statistics was the demand for the two most popular equipment types: mini/midi and crawler excavators. Both recorded higher levels of sales compared with last year, having fallen short in earlier months. Mini/midi excavator sales were 9% ahead of October last year and crawler excavators were higher by 19%. This suggests that some of the supply chain issues associated with these products are beginning to ease, the survey complier suggested.  Excavator sales are still for the year as a whole, however.

By contrast, for the first 10 months of the year, sales of telehandlers into the construction industry were 20% up on 2021 levels.

The construction equipment statistics exchange is run by Systematics International. This scheme is run in partnership with the Construction Equipment Association (CEA), the UK trade association.

Equipment sales in the Republic of Ireland are also reported in the statistics exchange. October sales there were 25% below last year’s levels. Year-to-date sales are nearly 10% below 2021 levels.