ASHRAE Journal - July 2022 - 6

INDUSTRY NEWS
Quick Recovery in the Global Compressor Market
Air Conditioning, Heat
Pumps and Refrigeration
Applications Surge
Contributed by BSRIA Worldwide Market Intelligence
BRACKNELL, BERKSHIRE, U.K.- The global compressor market was
estimated at 486 million units sold in 2021. Refrigeration
applications account for the lion's share, followed
by air conditioning, then heat pumps. By 2023, the
compressor market is expected to keep increasing above
pre-pandemic levels, as applications in air conditioning,
heat pumps and refrigeration will continue to
surge thanks to global growth of HVAC systems and the
trend toward electrification. In addition, drivers such as
energy-efficiency legislation, the uptick of refrigerants
with a lower environmental footprint and improvements
in compressor capacities and performances are
expected to push the value of the compressor market
higher by leveraging sales growth.
Reciprocating compressors account for as much as
279 million units sold in 2021, the majority of which are
small hermetic units for sales to OEM customers in the
residential refrigerator industry.
Rotary compressors are second at 190 million, which
are sold mostly for AC applications and heat pumps. This
market is dominated by OEM sales for air conditioners,
such as small splits, and to a much lower extent for heat
pumps of small capacities. Scroll account for 16 million
units. In recent years, rotary have been expanding in
the higher capacities and have started replacing scroll in
small VRF.
China is by far the largest market, in particular rotary
and scroll that are used in the assembly of finished
products. Rotary and hermetic reciprocating are the
main types of compressors made in China, which is
still a global production hub, with significant exports to
overseas factories assembling final products mostly in
Southeast Asia and Latin America. There is now only a
limited number of companies which manufacture rotary
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PHOTO 1 World compressor market by region in 2021 (in units).
in Japan. Most of the production of rotary has shifted
to other countries, increasingly Thailand and Malaysia.
Indeed, the manufacturing of AC units requiring
compressors in Thailand is one of the largest worldwide,
after China. Manufacturing of compressors in India is
also promoted by its government.
In the Americas, refrigeration is also the largest segment
in the market, totalling 20 million units in 2021,
with high volumes of hermetic reciprocating compressors
for residential applications. Air conditioning is
the second-largest application having experienced a
drop of 10.3% compared with the previous year due to
COVID-19. Rotary and especially scroll account for the
largest share of AC compressors. The heat pump market
is somewhat nascent in the Americas. In comparison,
sales of heat pumps in Europe, the Middle East and
Africa held up remarkably well in 2021, and their future
looks bright as they are surfing on a wave of legislation
for energy efficiency, increase in energy prices and further
drivers for the decarbonization of buildings.
The adoption of inverters for compressors is in a rapid
increase in all segments, countries and applications.
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ASHRAE Journal - July 2022

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