The global window market reached a volume of €68.8 billion in 2017, corresponding to a sales volume of 442.9 million window units and representing a growth of 2.4% over the previous year. According to a new study by Interconnection Consulting, annual sales will continue to rise by 3.3% until 2021.

China’s Bull Economy Stagnating
China is by far the largest global window market, with nearly one in three windows (30.8%) being sold there. In terms of sales volume, however, China’s market share of 15.9% is only third worldwide, lagging behind Western Europe (25.8%) and North America (21.5%). This disparity stems from China’s attempt to accomplish its massive urbanization efforts with inexpensive sash windows and simple metal frames, whereas demand in Europe, for example, is clearly for high-quality, energy-efficient windows (with a high R-value). On account of the cool down in China’s housing construction, due in part to anti-corruption measures adopted by the government, double-digit growth rates would seem to be a thing of the past. For this reason, Interconnection Consulting expects only a moderate annual growth of 2.9% up to the year 2021. By comparison, India is the region with the largest growth worldwide (+5.9%), stemming in part to gradually rising labor costs in China and South Korea, which, in turn, has resulted in a higher employment rate and increased construction activities in India.

North American Market Edging Towards Saturation
Growth in North America is expected to rise 3.3% this year, which is “already a sign of market saturation,” according to Laszlo Barla, author of the study. Market dynamics in recent years have grown increasingly weaker. In addition, the Trump administration has given rise to a degree of uncertainty among both buyers and lenders across the country. Similar growth (+3.1%) is forecast for Latin America in 2018. The most-recent economic figures have raised expectations that the national economies in South and Central America will continue to recover. Certain risks do remain, however. Certain South American currencies (the Columbia peso and the Brazilian real) are still among the most volatile in the world.

Low Interest Rates Bolster Europe’s Window Market
Not until 2015 did the Western European window market start seeing renewed growth following the heavy toll it took from the financial crisis of 2008. Currently, the region is benefitting from low lending rates, making investments in private housing construction attractive and thereby bolstering the window market. In the previous year, window sales grew 3.2%. Yet the window sector is threatened by ever-diminishing land available for construction and the concomitant rise in real estate prices. In similar developments, Eastern Europe also saw a turnaround in growth as of 2015 – though with even higher growth rates. Sales grew 6.0% in 2017. Low interest rates, rising salaries, and an efficient labor market with sinking unemployment are all factors enabling more and more people in Central and Eastern European countries to be able to afford a home of their own.

Housing Construction Gains Market Shares
Metal frames still manage to represent the highest-volume product group globally with 187.4 million units, followed by PVC windows (164.2 million units) and wood windows (73 million units). PVC windows are expected to register the largest growth in sales, with an average annual growth rate of 4.0% to the year 2021. Double-pane windows continue to be the dominant window type with a sales volume of 270 million units, followed by single-pane windows (104 million) and triple-pane windows (67.4 million units). Triple-pane windows also have the greatest growth potential (5.2% annually to 2021). In general, the share of housing construction to non-residential construction is increasing and is currently (2017) at 61.5%.

04/07/2018

Copyright: Interconnection, Publication free of charge for coverage regarding the study and InterConnection Consulting.