The series of research carried out by BSRIA (Building Services Research and Information Association) on the Global Heat Pumps Market published in May 2019 recorded a volume of sales slightly over 3 million units. Following a record year in 2017 with sales jumping 18 per cent, the global market was down by 3.3 per cent in volume terms in 2018.
Aline Breslauer, Senior Market Intelligence Analyst, BSRIA, said, “The global heat pump market suffered from the slowing economy in China in 2018. The recent US-China trade war has put more pressure on the local economic expansion, leading to rising prices on raw materials and a slower new residential construction market real-estate. The environmental measures to reduce CO2 emissions have kept supporting the heat pump market although the competition from gas boiler is on the rise in the country.
“In Europe the sales of heat pumps accelerated in 2018 reaching almost 650 thousand units sold. This is a 12.9 per cent increase from the previous year, which gives a sales value of 5.1 billion euros.
Air-sourced units maintained strong growth rates with splits systems increasing at the fastest pace: +19.1 per cent by volume followed by monobloc (+18.2 per cent). Air-sourced units designed for the production of sanitary hot water only were also on the rise in 2018, mostly driven by the demand from the French market.
The promotion of Heat pumps has been supported at a European level by the Building Regulation Directive, which has the objective of limiting the average energy consumption in most new buildings. Sales are primarily being driven by residential buildings. Suppliers in the Netherlands recorded high growth in terms of volume (+62.8 per cent) followed by the Republic of Ireland (+47.0 per cent) and the UK (+19.7 per cent). Public awareness is rising across Europe thanks notably to financial support avail to the availability of financial incentives. The recovery in the construction sector was another factor behind the latest development.”
