Global sales of air conditioners rose to 141 million units last year, valuing the market at US$103bn, according to the most recent figures from BSRIA.
Economic and population growth, urbanisation and rising temperatures in countries such as Bangladesh, Brazil, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya and Vietnam are said to be the main drivers for increasing demand for cooling.
The BSRIA report records a rise in the share of smart air conditioners, particularly in the commercial sector, as wireless technology becomes much easier to integrate.
Europe is said to have shown healthy growth, although being relatively small as a sales region, accounting for 7% by volume and almost 12% by value globally. The European market also witnessed a greater shift towards energy efficiency, inverter ACs and greener technology.
The European growth was boosted by the hot summer, a positive economy and construction activities. In the southern parts of Russia, sales of air conditioners continue to record 15-20% increase per annum. A cooler summer and currency fluctuation were the main reason behind the decline of sales in Turkey.
The Americas and the Asia Pacific region showed moderate growth around the global average level of 3.8%, while the Middle East, Indian and African markets continued to pick up slowly. Major markets such as China and US were showing modest increase.
The Asia Pacific region continues to account for the largest share with 56% of global value. China, Japan and South Korea remain the market leaders on the VRF market due to the earlier adoption of the systems. As the Chinese government is increasing its targets against air pollution, building owners have started to pay attention to indoor air quality. BSRIA says that this has triggered Chinese AC manufacturers to deploy more resources on R&D in order to offer greener solutions making it a key selling point for end users.
Growth in the mature US air conditioning market is said to be focused on upgrading of AC units with intelligent solutions such as wifi. Some countries from Latin America, on the other hand, recorded a decline in sales.
