The AEA have released figures that show for the first and only time all year, the number of agricultural tractors (over 50hp) registered in December 2024 was higher than in the same month the year before.

At 791 machines, the monthly total was 14% higher than in December 2023 and was also 5% above the average for the time of year over the previous five years. That brought the annual total to 10,241 machines, 13% down on the figure for 2023.

Agricultural economist at the Association, Stephen Howarth, said, "Registrations were only down 5% in the final quarter of 2024, compared with the equivalent period a year earlier, a much smaller decline than those seen in the previous three quarters (-14% in Q1, -13% in Q2 and -20% in Q3). It remains to be seen whether this is a temporary improvement or an indication that we are close to the bottom of the market. We will know more by the end of the first quarter of 2025."

The AEA's figures confirmed that despite the uptick in the final month of the year, the total number of agricultural tractors registered during 2024 was the lowest in any year since 1998.

Stephen concluded, "The final figure of 10,241 machines was only fractionally below those seen in other recent low points, such as 2015, 2016 and 2020, though. It does break a run during which registrations fell between 11,500 and 12,100 in six out of seven years."