European MEWP rental market situation in 2024

In 2023, the European MEWP rental market reached €3.4 billion total revenue, experiencing healthy levels of growth in most markets and sustained activity especially in the non-construction sector.

Rental companies continued to invest in their fleet, catching up with renewal and expansion plans as lead times from MEWP manufacturers eased and owing to strong demand for environmentally friendly equipment. The European fleet stood at a total of approximately 357,000 units at the end of 2023.

Utilisation rates remained stable at a high level of 64%, partly driven by the limited availability of equipment in certain countries and partly by solid demand. All countries are now reporting satisfactory utilisation rates over the 60% mark, a sign of positive and stabilised market outlook.

With undisputed demand and both inflation and MEWP purchase prices rising, rental companies were forced to substantially increase rental rates in most European countries, leading to an average rise of around four percent in 2023, for the second year in a row. Similar to 2022, only the Nordic region
experienced challenges, owing mainly to consolidation activity increasing already fierce market competition, which suppressed rental rate increases.

The level of investment remained at positive levels, increasing further by six percent in 2023 compared to 2022 investment. In addition to high demand, investment is being driven by rental companies wishing to renew fleet and transition to greener technologies.

The market outlook for 2024 remains positive, as manufacturer lead times are expected to further stabilise and rental companies forecast continued healthy demand. However, as inflation is anticipated to ease in Europe, rental rate increases should slow down while an investment decrease is expected
as rental firms plan on more cautious spending to target margins over volume.