Garden machinery, declining market in 2023

Geopolitics, inflation and climate change affect the performance of the market, which is declining for all the main types of products. Plant residue shredders, hedge trimmers, blowers and robot lawnmowers showed a plus sign. No significant turnarounds are expected for 2024

Inflation and geopolitical tensions held back sales of garden machinery and equipment in 2023, conditioned by surplus stocks and also by a lower propensity to buy by end users and unfavourable weather conditions.

Data on the trend of the sector, provided by the Morgan statistical survey group, which includes most manufacturers, and released by the Comagarden manufacturers' association, indicate an overall contraction of 9% for the sector for a total of 1,332,000 units sold in 2023 (1,470,000 the previous year).

The decline affected the main types of product, being more pronounced for snow throwers (-58%), which fell sharply due to the reduction in snowfall, and pruners (-48%).

Lawnmowers (-17%), brush cutters with combustion engines (-16%) and blowers (-30%) also declined, while chainsaws limited their losses and fell by 8%, recovering losses at the beginning of the year thanks to an increase in demand in the last months of 2023.

The only types of machines, among those surveyed by the Morgan Group, that record increases in sales are plant residue shredders and hedge trimmers, which closed 2023 with growth of 18 and 14 percentage points respectively. To these is added the figure for blowers (+11%) and robot lawnmowers that saw smaller increases (+3%).

For 2024, the association of garden machinery manufacturers does not expect significant reversals. However – the Comagarden specifies – an easing of international tensions and consequent inflationary pressures, combined with weather conditions more favourable to the vegetative development of plants, could positively reflect on the performance of the sector.