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The scaffolding market: size, players and trends

Market-size figures for scaffolding are quoted everywhere and agree on almost nothing. This page separates the research-firm estimates from the numbers companies and statistics offices actually publish, with the date of each.

By Ole Emil Frikstad Urstad · How the numbers are computed ·

Layher Allround scaffolding around a flat-roof block, 18.3 × 10.2 m and 12.5 m high, in the ScaFix 3D model
Layher Allround around a 12.5 m block.

How big is the scaffolding market?

Nobody measures it directly. Research-firm estimates published in 2025 and 2026 range from about US$12 billion to about US$68 billion a year, because they define the market differently. Audited figures are smaller and firmer: Altrad, the largest group, sold €860 million of scaffolding and other equipment in the year to August 2025.

Why do scaffolding market estimates differ so much?

Two reports published within a year of each other show the problem.

EstimatePublishedScopeSizeGrowth
Market Glass, Inc., Global Scaffolding Market6 February 2025Supported, suspended, rolling and cantilever scaffolds; steel, wood and aluminium; construction, shipbuilding, oil and gas, powerUS$67.8 billion in 2024, forecast US$98.4 billion by 20306.4 % a year
ResearchAndMarkets.com, Scaffolding and Accessories Market Report 2026reported 2 February 2026Scaffolding and accessoriesabout US$12 billion today, forecast about US$16 billion by 2030about 8.1 % a year

The first figure comes from the publisher’s report listing, which also puts the US at US$14.4 billion in 2024 and forecasts China at US$19.0 billion by 2030. The second was summarised by the UK scaffolding training body CISRS (CISRS news, 2 February 2026).

A gap of more than five times between two estimates of the same market is not a rounding difference. It comes from definitions. One report covers scaffolds used in construction, shipbuilding, oil and gas and power; the other covers scaffolding and accessories only. Neither publishes its method in its public summary, and both are estimates, not measurements. Treat any single market-size number as an order of magnitude, and check what it includes before you put it in a business plan.

What do company reports actually show?

Audited accounts are narrower but real. The companies that publish figures, in their own words and periods:

CompanyPeriodWhat they report
AltradYear to August 2025Revenue €5,942 million, of which equipment €860 million (14.5 %) and industrial services €5,082 million; equipment was €873 million a year earlier
PERI2025Turnover €1,862 million, formwork and scaffolding together; about 10,000 employees
HAKI Safety2024Net sales down 12 % (organic −5 %) to SEK 1,050 million
BrandSafway2026About 35,000 employees, 350 locations in 30 countries; no revenue published on its site
Layher20262,700 employees; no turnover published on its site

Sources: Altrad FY2025 results presentation, PERI, HAKI Safety year-end report, BrandSafway, Layher.

Two things stand out. First, Altrad’s equipment revenue fell slightly while its services grew, so the group’s growth now comes from services. Second, the largest groups do not split scaffolding from formwork, shoring or other equipment, so no public source gives a clean figure for scaffolding alone.

assco Futuro scaffolding around a 12.2 × 9.15 m villa with a hipped roof, in the ScaFix 3D model
assco Futuro around a villa with a hipped roof.

How is construction output moving?

Scaffold demand follows construction, and especially renovation, so official output figures are the most reliable indicator there is.

  • European Union. Eurostat’s first estimate for 2025 shows construction production stable in the euro area and up 0.5 % in the EU compared with 2024. In December 2025, building construction was down 0.7 % year on year in the EU while civil engineering was up 0.9 % (Eurostat, 19 February 2026).
  • Great Britain. The ONS reported that output grew 1.8 % in 2025, the fifth year of growth in a row (ONS, 12 February 2026). The latest bulletin shows a 1.0 % fall in the three months to August 2026, with new work down 1.4 % and repair and maintenance down 0.3 % (ONS, 15 October 2026).

In both, new building is the weak part, while civil engineering, renovation and energy work hold up better.

Is the market moving from ownership to rental?

For heavy equipment, the European Rental Association’s 2023 report put rental turnover at €28.9 billion in 16 countries in 2022, up 7.5 %, with growth expected to slow to 2.7 % in 2023. It said high purchase prices and economic uncertainty were shifting demand to usership over ownership, and that the UK, Germany and France made up almost 69 % of the market (ERA press release, 24 October 2023). Those figures cover construction equipment rental in general, not scaffolding alone.

Scaffolding has two business models side by side:

  • Product makers that sell. Layher concentrates design and production at one German site and sells through subsidiaries in 45 countries (Layher milestones).
  • Groups that rent, erect and service. BrandSafway describes its business as access, industrial services, and forming and shoring. Altrad earns 85.5 % of its revenue from services. PERI runs more than 140 warehouse locations, and Scafom-rux offers scaffold rental alongside sales.

For a contractor, the choice is mostly about utilisation; our guide to renting or buying scaffolding works through it.

How fast is the industry consolidating?

Quickly, and mostly through private equity and serial acquirers. How BrandSafway was put together from SGB, Hünnebeck, Brand and Safway under private equity owners is told in our article on the scaffolding manufacturers and their history; the deals since 2021:

  1. 2021. Altrad completed eleven acquisitions in one year, including RMD Kwikform, adding around €1.7 billion of revenue (Altrad history).
  2. 2023. Doka, part of the Austrian Umdasch Group, completed its takeover of the US scaffold maker AT-PAC (Doka).
  3. 2024. Scafom-rux bought its Swedish distributor Tobit and entered the UK and Irish markets (Scafom-rux history). HAKI Safety bought Semmco Group, with annual turnover of about SEK 100 million, on 29 October 2024 (HAKI Safety year-end report 2024). Altrad completed the purchase of Norway’s Beerenberg, in which it already held a quarter of the shares (Altrad history).
  4. 2025. The activities of Stork UK became part of Altrad (Altrad history).

Our systems pages list the brands that came out of these deals, sorted by maker.

Are system scaffolds replacing tube and fitting?

The clearest test is the UK, where tube and fitting was for generations the only way most firms worked. In an interview published in October 2025, Layher UK’s managing director said system scaffolding was once virtually invisible in the British market and estimated its share now at about 25 %, while admitting the figure is hard to measure (Scaffmag, 6 October 2025). That is a supplier’s estimate, not a statistic, but it is the most recent one we found. The CISRS summary of the ResearchAndMarkets report also names the adoption of modular scaffold systems as a driver of growth.

The engineering trend inside the systems is weight. Layher launched its Lightweight generation of Allround in 2013 and in 2019 a steel deck up to 2.2 kg, or 10 %, lighter than its predecessor, made from higher-tensile steel. Aluminium is the other route; the trade-offs are covered in types of scaffolding.

How is software changing the trade?

Planning and stock software is now a product category of its own. Avontus, founded in 2002, released its Quantify stock and project system in 2007 and its scaffold design tool in 2013, and reported more than a thousand users by 2012 (Avontus). The makers have followed: PERI set up its own software company, CENTRIO, in 2014 (PERI history), and Layher sells the LayPLAN suite. The ResearchAndMarkets summary lists smart monitoring and material tracking on site among the next trends. ScaFix is one such planning tool; see our software comparison.

Frequently asked questions

What is the global scaffolding market worth?

Estimates range from about US$12 billion (ResearchAndMarkets, scaffolding and accessories, 2026) to about US$68 billion (Market Glass, scaffolds across several industries, 2025). They measure different things, so neither is a census.

Who is the largest scaffolding company?

By revenue and headcount, Altrad and BrandSafway are the largest groups, but most of their business is services. Among companies that mainly manufacture scaffolding, Layher and PERI are the best-known names.

Is the scaffolding market growing?

The research-firm estimates forecast growth of about 6 to 8 % a year. Official data are more modest: EU construction output rose 0.5 % in 2025 and British output 1.8 %.

Is scaffolding mostly rented or bought?

Both models exist. Groups such as BrandSafway and Altrad rent, erect and service scaffolds, while makers such as Layher sell to contractors who own their stock.

What share of UK scaffolding is system scaffold?

There is no official figure. Layher UK’s managing director estimated about 25 % in October 2025 and said the share is hard to measure.

Sources

Primary sources used for this article, with the date each was read.