Strong growth of heat pump markets in different parts of the world

During the summer, sales statistics for heat pumps during 2021 have been presented for different markets in the world. In Europe, heat pump sales grew by 34% during 2021 – an all-time high!

On July 12, European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) published figures for 21 countries in Europe. In total, 2.18 million heat pump units were sold in these countries – nearly 560,000 more than in 2020. This brings the total number of installed heat pumps in the EU to 16.98 million, covering around 14% of the heating market.

“The heat pump sector’s record growth in 2021 is part of a major shift to sustainable heating in Europe. We have a triple whammy: EU policy driving governments to decarbonize the building sector, leaps forward in heat pump technology, and the Covid pandemic which has helped many citizens realize they must upgrade their homes. More recently, the terrible war waged by Russia on Ukraine has shown the madness of our dependency on fossil fuel imports for heating”, according to Thomas Nowak, General Secretary of EHPA.

According to the EHPA, the heat pumps now installed in the EU avoid over 44 million tonnes of CO₂ – slightly more than the annual emissions of Ireland – with the heating sector producing around 1000 Mt overall.

All national heat pump markets experienced substantial growth, last year, although some have far higher sales than others. The strongest relative gains for heating heat pumps were achieved in Poland (an increase of 87%), Ireland (+69%), Italy (+63%), Slovakia (+42%) Norway and France (each +36%), and Germany (+28%). 87% of the European market volume was sold in only ten countries (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Poland, Denmark, and the Netherlands). The top three countries, France, Germany, and Italy accounted for half of the annual sales.  The five biggest European heat pump markets in terms of units sold (heat pumps and hot water units) in 2021 were France (537,000 units sold, +36%), Italy (382,000 units, +64%), Germany (177,000 units, +26%), Spain (148,000 units, +16%), and Sweden (135,000 units, +19%).

These figures could skyrocket further next year since the REPowerEU plan to get off Russian gas and it has ambitious targets for heat pumps. However, the heat pump sector sees limitations in components supply, which may dampen the increase. Read the Press Release from EHPA here>

HPT TCP reported about the heat pump market growth in several countries earlier this year. Read more >

Signs of continuously strong growth also for 2022 are already reported. As an example, sales of heat pumps soared during the first quarter of 2022 in Finland. According to statistics from SULPU, Finnish Heat Pump Association, sales of air-to-air (ATA) heat pumps grew by as much as 120%, air-to-water (ATW) heat pumps increased by 40%, and ground-source heat pumps (GSHPs) by 35%. The sales volume of exhaust-air heat pumps for single-family houses remained unchanged. The total volume increased by 90% compared with the same period last year. This growth veered towards high-performance pumps, which means that the increase in sales was even higher in terms of value. Read more about Heat Pump Sales Soar in Finland here >

However, it is not only Europe that experiences strong market growth. According to JARN’s database, the global Air-to-Water (ATW) market in 2021 increased by 19.3% year on year, reaching 4.10 million units. First and foremost, three markets continue to expand: Europe, China, and Japan. Among them, Europe has the most significant growth rate, while the Chinese market, the world’s largest, is back on a rapid growth track, and the Japanese market has maintained steady growth. JARN estimates that among individual markets, Europe, Japan, and the United States increased by 46.1%, 11.6%, and 8.8% respectively, while China increased by 12.6%.
Read more about World ATW Heat Pump Market – 2022 Update – Overview here >

Among residential Air-to-Water Heat Pump Water Heaters (ATW HPWHs), Eco Cute units play a central role in Japan. Eco Cute is a high-efficiency water heater that adopts CO₂ and uses heat pump technology to produce hot water. Since air is used as a heat source, it is possible to obtain three times as much heat as the electric energy input. In 2021, the Japanese Eco Cute market was strong. According to the Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association (JRAIA), the annual record was 585,989 units, which was a marked increase of 11.6% compared with 2020. It is estimated that this trend will continue in the future.
Read more about Japan here >

In 2021, the Chinese ATW heat pump market showed an upswing, with buoyant growth, and increased by 12.6% year on year to around 2.19 million units 2021, according to JARN’s estimates. In the first half of 2021, thanks to the full and rapid resumption of work and production following the first wave of the pandemic, demand for ATW heat pumps in China increased substantially compared with the low demand encountered during the same period of 2020. In the second half of 2021, however, the market shrank as a whole, affected by the recurrence of infections in some regions along with real estate control policies.
Read more about China here >