Motion controls sales fell by 6.9% in 2024 in ‘rough year’
23 January 2025 
Revenues in the global motion controls market slumped by 6.9% during 2024, representing a drop of more than $900m to a total of $12.3bn. This fall followed a period of unprecedented growth. However, in a new report on this market, Interact Analysis suggests that the long-term CAGR will remain largely the same, at around 3.5%, indicating a rebalancing of the market, rather than something worse.
It states that 2024 was “a rough year for motion control vendors”, however, it believes that the market is starting to stabilise.
The report traces the origins of the 2024 decline back to 2021 when the sector experienced “unprecedented” growth. Demand was at an all-time high, and motion control suppliers couldn’t manufacture products fast enough. Buyers were keen to place orders, but struggled to obtain products because of supply shortages. Panic buying set in with customers over-ordering motion control products during 2021 and 2022.
As the manufacturing sector dipped in 2023, the motion controls market started to show the effect of over-ordering in the previous two years. Backlog orders were worked through and it became clear that new orders for motion control products were falling. Buyers’ inventories of motion control components were full and manufacturing demand was down, resulting in an inventory issue. This led to a decoupling between the growth of manufacturing output and that of the motion control market, leading to further market declines and destocking.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, growth in the motion controls market had been closely correlated to the growth of manufacturing output. But in 2021, when over-ordering began, the two became decoupled. That year, the motion controls market grew by nearly 22% year-on-year.
In late 2023, growth in manufacturing production and the motion control market intersected, marking the start of the destocking effect. That year, the motion market grew by just 1% and it became clear that, amid low manufacturing production, motion control buyers had overstocked and needed to wind down their inventories before placing new orders. This set the stage for the significant decline in revenues experienced by motion control vendors during 2024.
Before Covid, Interact had been predicting a CAGR of 3.5% for the motion controls market from 2019-2023. Despite the sharp gains and losses between 2020 and 2024, the analyst believes that the market is still following the same long-term trajectory and CAGR from 2019-2029. It believes that the period 2021 to 2024 represented “unique” circumstances, and not a new norm.
Interact expects manufacturing production and the motion controls market to synchronise again, starting this year, indicating market stability. 2025 is likely to be mixed in terms of regional performance, with Europe continuing to face challenges. However, it expects every region to start recovering as destocking ends and growth in new orders resumes.
“Following the high growth years in 2021 and 2022, it is easy to lose sight of what ‘normal’ growth looks like in this market,” comments Interact research analyst, Clara Sipes. “While double-digit declines in some regions are alarming, they should be viewed in the historical context of the market as a correction. As destocking in the market eases, we expect a sense of normalcy to return marked by more modest and consistent growth rates. 2025 marks the first year climbing out of the market trough, and while it will be a slow process, the prognosis for the market in 2026 and beyond is much brighter.”
