According to Irhma, International Roundtable of Household Appliance Manufacturer Associations, in 2015 (latest available data) about 243 million home appliances were sold globally, marking an overall increase of 2.7% compared to 2014. Of these devices 32% has been traded in Europe, 39% in China, 22% in North America, 5% in Japan and 2% in Korea.
Demand for products of this sector, therefore, is always very lively and dynamic.
Among the considered geographical areas, Japan is the only one that saw a decrease of almost 8.5% of the number of traded appliances between 2014 and 2015. The other markets recorded interesting increases. North America marked a growth of almost 7%, while Europe and China reported increases of about 2.5%. The units sold in North America were almost 53 million in 2015, while in Europe they exceeded 77 million. China is the biggest market with 95.5 million appliances, while Korea, that is another very dynamic market in recent years, sold about 5.2 million units.
If we focus on an area including EU28 market, Albania, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and Norway, a slowdown has been recorded in the sale of small appliances, while sales increased for major appliances. Overall, with regard to its members, Ceced Europe observed a reduction by 2% of small appliances traded within the Old Continent between 2014 and 2015, which fell from about 126 million units to 124 million. The decline mainly affected cooking appliances (-6%), irons (-2%), coffee machines and juicers (both down by 3%).
Large appliances, instead, reached about 100 million units, with a growth of 2%.
Among the various segments the most dynamic have been dryers, increased by 11%, built-in ovens (+6%) and dishwasher (+5%).
Also hoods had a good performance, with a volume growth of 3%.
But where do the appliances sold in Europe come from? According to Eurostat, 65% comes from European Union member countries, 1% from European markets outside the Union and, in 34% of cases from Asia. Most of the devices from non-EU countries are imported from China, Turkey, South Korea and Thailand.
APPLIANCES TRADED GLOBALLY (UNITS – 2015)
| Geographical areas | Traded appliances | Trend % 2015 vs 2014 | Share % |
| Europae | 77,124,000 | +2.45% | 32% |
| North America | 52,934,000 | +6.92% | 22% |
| China | 95,564,000 | +2.46% | 39% |
| Japan | 12,144,000 | -8.46% | 5% |
| Korea | 5,250,000 | +0.96% | 2% |
| Total | 243,016,000 | +2.74% | 100% |
Source: Irhma, International Roundtable of Household Appliance Manufacturer Associations
HOME APPLIANCES TRADED IN EU28+OTHER COUNTRIES*
(UNITS – 2015)
| Major appliances | Units | Trend % 2015 vs 2014 |
| Refrigerators | 19,200,000 | +2% |
| Freezers | 4,000,000 | -2% |
| Washing machines | 23,000,000 | +2% |
| Dryers | 4,900,000 | +11% |
| Dishwashers | 11,400,000 | +5% |
| Cookers | 4,100,000 | -7% |
| Hobs | 10,300,000 | +2% |
| Built-in ovens | 9,700,000 | +6% |
| Hoods | 6,000,000 | +3% |
| Microwave ovens | 7,300,000 | -1% |
| Total | 99,000,000 | +2% |
| Small appliances | Units | Trend % 2015 vs 2014 |
| Irons | 17,900,000 | -2% |
| Food processors | 21,400,000 | 0% |
| SDA for cooking | 6,600,000 | -6% |
| Coffee machines | 19,600,000 | -3% |
| Juicer | 3,100,000 | -3% |
| Other | 55,600,000 | |
| Total | 124,200,000 | -2% |
* EU28 + Albania, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and Norway
Source: Ceced Members
