American Rental Association Projects 5.2-Percent Growth Rate in 2025
The American Rental Association projects a 5.2-percent growth rate in 2025, bring the industry’s total value to $87.5 million. In its updated forecast, released today, ARA said the North America construction and general tool rental industry finished 2024 as an $83.3 billion industry, an 8-percent growth from 2023. The 2024 construction and general tool rental industry revenue for North America (United States and Canada) was $83.7 billion. United States revenue accounted for $77.92 billion, while Canadian revenue was $5.73 billion.
Beyond 2025, growth is projected to slow to 4.1 percent and 4 percent in 2026 and 2027 respectively. This corresponds with projected moderated investment in both the construction and general tool industries in the coming years.
“Economic uncertainty and relatively high financing costs, underscored by today’s Fed decision, weigh on the outlook for investment,” said Scott Hazelton, managing director at S&P Global, the international forecasting firm that compiles data and analysis for the ARA forecast. “However, this is little risk of a serious downturn, and equipment rental can gain penetration in uncertain times. Our equipment rental outlook for 2025 has been lowered from our view last quarter, however, we still project equipment rental growth at about twice the rate of real GDP and inflation.”
Notably, as businesses chose rental over ownership, the construction and industrial equipment (CIE) rental penetration rate increased for the fourth year in a row to 57 percent in 2024, making penetration higher than the pre-pandemic peak.
In Canada, the industry rounded out 2024 with $5.73 billion in revenue, a 6.1 percent growth compared to 2023. The Canadian construction and general tool rental industry is projected to total $5.95 billion, a 3.7-percent growth rate in 2025. S&P Global projects the Canadian rental industry will grow 7.2 percent and 6.7 percent in 2026 and 2027.
“Equipment rental penetration hit a record in the past quarter as rental customers continue to accept the solutions provided by rental companies,” said Tom Doyle, ARA vice president, program development. “For 2025, while the forecast calls for growth in the equipment segment, that growth softens. Our quarterly ARA member surveys confirmed they expect growth in Q1 of 2025.”
Aside from updated revenue projections, ARA also shared industry contributions to key economic metrics.
The equipment rental industry directly, indirectly, or induced supplies 666,000 jobs in the U.S. The industry provides $47.4 billion in wages and contributes $115 billion in GDP, directly and indirectly.
For more information on ARA, visit www.ararental.org.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.