The latest figures from the AEA (Agricultural Engineers Association) show that 1,174 new agricultural tractors (over 50hp) were registered in the UK last month (June). That’s down 1.1% compared with June 2018.

It brings the year-to-date figure to 6,338 tractors. That’s down 2.9% compared with the January-June (inclusive) figure for last year.

A spokesperson explained: “After two months with large year-on-year movements, likely to have been partly due to Brexit preparations, UK registrations of agricultural tractors [over 50hp] in June were in line with those a year before.

“At 1,174, the number of machines registered was about 1% lower than in June 2018. This modest decline is in line with the trend over the first half of the year, which saw about 3% fewer tractors registered than in January to June of 2018.

“Nevertheless, this year’s total of 6,338 machines was otherwise the highest for the first half of the year since 2014.”

For the record, 889 new tractors were registered in the UK during May. That was around a quarter fewer than May of last year.

Also Read: Tractor sales in the UK: What impact is Brexit having?

Interestingly, 12,102 new agricultural tractors were registered in the UK during the entirety of 2018. That figure was approximately 1% higher than the total for 2017. In fact, it was the largest annual figure in four years.

Wider perspective

Putting things in a wider global context, over 2.1 million new tractors are believed to have been sold across the world in 2017. That assertion is based on data from Agrievolution Alliance; it compiles data on tractor and equipment sales around the world – charting trends from one year to the next.

In any case, stay tuned to AgriLand for an upcoming analysis of UK tractor registrations (in the first half of this year) by power and region/nation.