DATA SHOWS WHICH TRACTOR POWER BAND SAW THE GREATEST FALL

Following on from last week's news from the AEA that 2025's tractor sales were at a historically low ebb, the Association has now released data that looks at how trends varied between different power bands and parts of the country.

The AEA say that almost all power bands saw a decline in registrations between 2024 and 2025 but the biggest falls were at the top end of the power range. Agricultural economist at the Association, Stephen Howarth, said, "The number of tractors over 240hp registered last year was down by nearly a third, compared with the year before, reflecting the challenging financial position of arable farmers, who are the main buyers of these larger machines. Below that level, the decline was a more modest 11%. Nevertheless, the 11% share of the total accounted for by machines over 240hp was still higher than in any year before 2024."

The decline in the number of the largest machines meant that the average power of tractors registered during 2025 was lower than the year before for the first time since 2021. It fell from just under 180hp in 2024 to 173hp a year later, which is also slightly below the level recorded in 2023 but is higher than in all previous years. As a result, the total power of tractors registered during the year fell to a 24-year low of 1.52 million hp.

The Association also considered registrations across regions around the UK, saying the number of tractors registered in 2025 was lower than the year before across most of the country, although the South West of England was an exception. Here, slightly more machines were logged that in 2024 but numbers were down everywhere else.

Stephen Howarth continued, "That perhaps reflects the better fortunes of the dairy sector, which makes up a sizeable proportion of agriculture in that region. The South East of England and Northern Ireland also saw relatively small declines but the rest of the country recorded year-on-year falls of at least 10%. Yorkshire, the East Midlands and North Wales were the worst affected regions, with less than three-quarters as many registrations as in 2024."