According to a new report by Allied Market Research, the global construction equipment market is expected to reach $240.97 billion by 2020, registering a compound annual growth rate of 8.9% over the next five years.

The construction equipment market includes heavy machinery such as loaders, cranes, forklifts, excavators and dozers, used for earthmoving, material handling, excavation and other applications across different industry verticals. Among the different types of construction equipment, loader and cranes would continue to remain the most preferred type, due to their numerous applications in construction, mining and public works.

By 2020, the market should be driven significantly by the loader segment, which will contribute more than 44% of the total market revenue due to increased application in earth moving operations. In fact, earth moving and lifting and material handling, which accounted for approximately 50% of the total market in 2014, will both continue to grow in the forecast period. Earth moving will grow especially quickly due to an increase in construction for commercial and residential infrastructure setup.

Allied Market Research expects the Asia-Pacific region to experience the largest market share in the years to come, while the North American sector is projected to see moderate growth.