Available exclusively to NFPA members, Oxford Economics’ most recent forecast of demand for hydraulics and pneumatics can be found on the NFPA website at https://www.nfpa.com/global-forecast-oxford-economics, with the two new files in the top line under Global Fluid Power Report and Forecast.
And it appears that the more things change, the more they stay the same. The overall GDP and industrial production forecasts for the US remain unchanged from the prior Oxford report, as Oxford notes the improvement they expected early this year was offset by the effect of the Iran war.
As for fluid power specific demand forecasts, Oxford provides growth percentages for the US and 20 additional countries through 203. For 2026, Oxford expects US demand growth of 2.3% for hydraulics and 2.1% for pneumatics. Some standout areas around the globe include expected double digit demand growth for hydraulics in Taiwan and UAE; and double digits for pneumatics in Taiwan, China, India and, believe it or not…Russia. (You may want to pass on that last one given potential civil and criminal penalties US companies face for exporting to the land of bad Mr. Vlad).
Oxford also provides a more detailed look at the driving markets for each country. For example, they indicate that mining, quarrying and construction equipment will help drive demand for hydraulics in the US. And electronic components and boards will be a surging market for pneumatics with expected growth of 11% and another 11.8% in 2027.