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According to statistics from the China Construction Machinery Association, the overall sales volume of excavators in 2024 showed a recovery trend, with domestic sales recovering somewhat compared to 2023, while export sales instead declined slightly. Domestic and international market sales were basically flat, with varying degrees of divergence remaining across different machine types.

(In the following text, the excavator model ranges are: small excavators ≤18.5t, medium excavators 18.5t–28.5t, large excavators ≥28.5t)

Analysis of Excavator Sales by Machine Type

According to statistics from the China Construction Machinery Association, cumulative excavator sales from January to December 2024 totaled 201,131 units, up 3.13% year-on-year; of these, domestic sales were 100,543 units, up 11.7% year-on-year; exports were 100,588 units, down 4.24% year-on-year.

Figure 1   Monthly sales and year-on-year changes of different excavator types from January to December 2024 (including domestic and export) (Source: China Construction Machinery Association)

In 2024, cumulative sales of small excavators totaled 120,318 units, up 3.85% year-on-year. Domestic sales were 74,823 units, accounting for 62.19%, and export sales were 45,495 units, accounting for 37.81%.

Cumulative sales of medium excavators totaled 50,951 units, up 5.31% year-on-year. Domestic sales were 14,522 units, accounting for 28.50%, and export sales were 36,429 units, accounting for 71.50%.

Cumulative sales of large excavators totaled 29,862 units, down 2.75% year-on-year. Domestic sales were 11,198 units, accounting for 37.50%, and export sales were 18,664 units, accounting for 62.50%.

From the monthly distribution, sales of small, medium, and large excavators all exhibited similar seasonal characteristics: they all quickly hit their year-on-year sales trough in February (the off-season during the Spring Festival), then began to rebound gradually from March, showing a progressive recovery trend.

In January, year-on-year sales of small and large excavators both rose by more than 25%, while medium excavator sales rose only 1.2% year-on-year; in February, small excavators saw the largest year-on-year decline at 46.2%, while medium and large excavators declined somewhat less, by about 32%; in July, medium excavator sales rose 20% year-on-year and reached more than 25% in September, October, and December; large excavator sales rose year-on-year only in August, by 14.4%, while small excavator sales further accelerated in October–December.

Domestic market: small excavators account for nearly 75% of sales

Full-year domestic excavator sales in 2024 totaled 100,543 units, accounting for 50.0% of total excavator sales, an increase of 10,563 units year-on-year, up 11.74% year-on-year.

Of these, cumulative domestic sales of small excavators totaled 74,873 units, up 20.60% year-on-year, accounting for 74.47% of the domestic market, a share increase of 5.5 percentage points over the same period in 2023. Cumulative domestic sales of medium excavators totaled 14,483 units, down 8.15% year-on-year, accounting for 14.40% of the domestic market; cumulative domestic sales of large excavators totaled 11,187 units, down 6.88% year-on-year, accounting for 11.13% of the domestic market.

Figure 2   Changes in the monthly sales share of different excavator types in the domestic market from January to December 2024 (Source: China Construction Machinery Association)

Figure 3   Monthly sales and year-on-year changes of different excavator types in the domestic market from January to December 2024 (Source: China Construction Machinery Association)

From the monthly distribution of domestic sales by excavator type, small excavators have shown positive year-on-year growth in monthly sales since March, while the year-on-year monthly sales data for medium and large excavators have shown greater volatility.

For domestic sales of small excavators, January rose more than 70% year-on-year; apart from a 45.15% year-on-year decline in February, year-on-year growth in the remaining months remained above 20%, with May up 41.16% year-on-year.

For domestic sales of medium excavators, January rose 15.26% year-on-year, February fell 60.45% year-on-year, the year-on-year decline slowed in March and April, and by May it recovered, rising 20.19% year-on-year.

For domestic sales of large excavators, January rose 66.92% year-on-year, February fell 55.10% year-on-year, and March–July continued to decline year-on-year at a narrowing rate, from a 16.75% year-on-year decline in March to a 2.99% decline in June; in July it turned positive, rising 4.63% year-on-year.

Export market: medium excavators gained momentum in the second half, with monthly sales growing up to 34% year-on-year

Full-year cumulative excavator exports in 2024 totaled 100,588 units, accounting for 50.0% of total excavator sales, a decrease of 4,450 units year-on-year, down 4.24% year-on-year. Of these, cumulative exports of small excavators totaled 45,540 units, down 15.31% year-on-year, accounting for 45.27% of the export market, a share decrease of 6.7 percentage points over the same period in 2023. Cumulative exports of medium excavators totaled 36,447 units, up 11.76% year-on-year, accounting for 36.23% of the export market, a share increase of 5.2 percentage points over the same period in 2023; cumulative exports of large excavators totaled 18,601 units, down 0.26% year-on-year, accounting for 18.49% of the export market, a share increase of 0.7 percentage points over the same period in 2023.

Figure 4 Monthly export sales and year-on-year changes of different excavator types from January to December 2024 (Source: China Construction Machinery Association)

From the monthly distribution, in 2024 the year-on-year export sales of small excavators declined in all months except November and December, when they grew; in February, small excavator export sales fell 47.7% year-on-year, and the decline gradually eased from March to October. It was not until the end of the year that they were basically flat.

For medium excavators in 2024, export sales in January–June were basically flat compared with the same period in 2023; in July, medium excavator export sales rose 30.8% year-on-year, the year-on-year increase slowed to 18.6% in August, and year-on-year growth remained above 27% in September–December.

For large excavator export sales, apart from notable year-on-year increases in January (15.9%) and August (9.7%), the remaining months were basically flat compared with the same period the previous year.

Figure 5 Changes in the monthly export sales share of different excavator types from January to December 2024 (Source: China Construction Machinery Association)

Regional divergence: sales in 4 regions grew more than 50% year-on-year, while sales declined in only 3 regions

From January to December, the top ten provinces by excavator sales were: Jiangsu, Guangdong, Sichuan, Hebei, Guangxi, Yunnan, Anhui, Hubei, Xinjiang, and Shandong. Cumulative sales in the top ten provinces totaled 51,583 units, accounting for 51.30% of total domestic excavator sales.

Hebei jumped from 16th place in 2023 to 4th place; Guangxi rose from 15th to 5th place. Meanwhile, Shandong fell from 5th to 10th place; Zhejiang fell from 6th to 14th place.

Figure 6 Regional excavator sales and year-on-year changes from January to December 2024 (Source: China Construction Machinery Association)

From January to December 2024, among the 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions included in the statistics of the China Construction Machinery Association, 22 regions—Jiangsu, Guangdong, Sichuan, Hebei, Guangxi, Yunnan, Anhui, Hubei, Xinjiang, Shandong, Jiangxi, Henan, Shanxi, Zhejiang, Hunan, Fujian, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Gansu, Guizhou, and Beijing—recorded cumulative excavator sales of more than 2,000 units.

Excavator sales showed positive growth in 28 regions: Heilongjiang sales rose 109.5% year-on-year, Hainan rose 74.1% year-on-year, Tianjin rose 55.0% year-on-year, and Hebei rose 52.8% year-on-year.

Excavator sales showed negative growth in only 3 regions: Zhejiang fell 11.2% year-on-year, Inner Mongolia fell 5.0% year-on-year, and Jiangsu fell 4.4% year-on-year.

Figure 7 Excavator sales and year-on-year changes in Heilongjiang from January to December 2024 (Source: China Construction Machinery Association)

Heilongjiang Province recorded cumulative sales of 1,345 units for the full year of 2024, an increase of 703 units over 2023. Except for February, monthly sales showed positive growth; year-on-year sales growth in January and May exceeded 200%, and March achieved the highest single-month sales volume at 145 units. After entering April and May, sales levels remained stable near this high point. Full-year sales grew 109.5% year-on-year.

Figure 8 Excavator sales and year-on-year changes in Hainan from January to December 2024 (Source: China Construction Machinery Association)

Hainan Province recorded cumulative sales of 1,565 units for the full year of 2024, an increase of 666 units over 2023. Except for February and May, monthly sales showed positive growth; it gained momentum starting in September, with year-on-year sales growth in October approaching 300%, and October was the sales peak (255 units). Full-year sales rose 74.1% year-on-year.

Figure 9 Excavator sales and year-on-year changes in Tianjin from January to December 2024 (Source: China Construction Machinery Association)

Tianjin recorded cumulative sales of 482 units for the full year of 2024, an increase of 171 units over 2023. Except for February, monthly sales showed positive growth; year-on-year sales growth in June exceeded 300%, and March had the highest sales at 78 units. Full-year sales rose 55.5% year-on-year.

Figure 10 Excavator sales and year-on-year changes in Hebei from January to December 2024 (Source: China Construction Machinery Association)

Hebei Province recorded cumulative sales of 5,206 units for the full year of 2024, an increase of 1,800 units over 2023. Except for February, monthly sales showed positive growth; year-on-year sales growth in May and June approached 200%, and May had the highest sales at 820 units. Full-year sales rose 52.85% year-on-year, with a notable improvement in sales ranking.