There were 79,871 agricultural tractors licensed in the Republic on 31 December 2016, according to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. This is 2,175 below the number recorded in 2015, which represents a 2.65% fall. By contrast, the number of private cars increased by 2.11% and the number of goods vehicles by 3.55% last year.

The drop in tractor numbers cannot be attributed to a corresponding fall in sales – there were 1,934 new tractors (agricultural or other) first licensed in the country last year, just 52 fewer than in 2015. The figures therefore point to large numbers of tractors being decommissioned or exported during 2016.

The number of tractors in Ireland has now been declining for the past three years.

Makes

The most popular tractor make is Massey Ferguson, with 18,021 tractors licensed in the country. It is a close race for second position between New Holland (11,664) and John Deere (11,821). Ford is next with 7,444 tractors, followed by Case/David Brown (6,993).

Recovery in tractor sales in April

Tractor numbers continued to fall in 2016

Unlike other types of vehicles, agricultural tractors continue to see their numbers fall – with Massey still accounting for the largest fleet.