The Yellow Table in 5 charts

It shows revenue from the world’s 50 biggest OEMs at an all-time high for the third time in five years, with those companies together generating $246.6 billion.

Caterpillar is once again the world’s largest OEM by some margin, with Komatsu in its habitual second place, while Chinese giant XCMG moves up to third.

You can read more about the top 10 OEMs here, or find the full Yellow Table in the digital copy of International Construction magazine here.

But Construction Briefing also wanted to take a look behind the numbers to identify interesting trends, using 21 years of data (2006-2026).

We’ve devised five charts that look at the biggest climbers over that period, those companies with the strongest staying power in our Leaders’ Index, and an animated map showing the growth of OEMs in cities across the world over time.

1) The 10 biggest climbers

First off, we have a simple chart showing the top 10 biggest climbers in the Yellow Table over the past two decades. It examines the OEMs’ position in the 2006 Yellow Table with the 2026 ranking to see which companies have gained the largest net number of places over time.

It shows the clear rise of Chinese manufacturers, with Sany, XCMG, Liugong, Zoomlion, Liugong, Shantui, and Lonking (formerly China Infrastructure Machinery Holdings when the Yellow Table was published in 2006) all in the top 10.

NB Wacker Neuson has been included in the list, however when the 2006 Yellow Table was published, this was prior to Neuson’s merger with Wacker Construction Equipment in 2007. Neuson placed 50th in the Yellow Table in 2006 as a single entity.

2) Which region of the world dominates?

In this animated bubble chart, we track the progress of OEMs by region over time. Asia, Europe and North America continue to be the three big powerhouses for construction equipment manufacturing.

But you can see the clear rise to prominence of Asian manufacturers, driven by the rapid rise of Chinese OEMs in particular. 

However, while the total revenue of Asian OEMs may now by the largest, it’s North American companies that still have the highest average revenue, thanks in large part to Caterpillar’s continued dominance at the top of the tree.

3) The global centres of construction equipment manufacturing - animated

Whether it is Tokyo in Japan, Changsha in China, or Seoul in South Korea, there are certain locations around the globe that are construction equipment manufacturing powerhouses.

So we have mapped how revenue in the global headquarters of the world’s biggest OEMs has grown or shrunk over time with this animation. You can zoom in or out of the map to track progress either on a certain region, or the globe as a whole (although you will see more detail the further you zoom in).

NB Some major companies have changed their headquarters over the 2006-2026 period. One example is Caterpillar, which for many years had its headquarters in Peoria, Illinois, before announcing in 2017 that it was switching its HD to Deerfield, Illinois, and then in 2022 that it would move to Irving, Texas. For the sake of continuity, the animation shows a company’s HQ in its original location.

4) It’s easier to get into the Yellow Table than to climb it

One of the more surprising findings in this year’s analysis is that the annual revenue required to enter the Yellow Table has remained relatively stable over the past two decades.

In 2006, Neuson made it to 50th place with an annual revenue of US$270 million. In 2026, Kato Works achieved the same position with US$355 million. In the intervening years, the figure required to make 50th position has fluctuated, falling as low as $215 million in 2010 in the aftermath of the Great Financial Crash, and reaching as high as $647 million in 2025’s Yellow Table.

But as this chart shows, it’s one thing to get onto the list and quite another to climb to the upper echelons.

More than 20 years of data shows how the top 10 companies have pulled away from the rest in revenue terms. In 2006, Sandvik was in 10th place with revenue of $2.7 billion, which was 10 times that of Neuson in 50th place. But in this year’s table, while Sandvik still occupies 10th position with an annual revenue of $6.9 billion, that’s 19.5 times as much as Kato Works in 50th place. 

5) Who rules the roost?

Construction Briefing has also devised the Yellow Table Leaders’ Index, which shows which companies have maintained a dominant position throughout the 2006-2026 period.

It uses a simple formula to rank companies on a combined score, awarding on a sliding scale each year, starting at 50 points for first position, down to one point for 50th. Caterpillar achieved the maximum score of 1050 (21 x 50), thanks to its 21 years of first places.

The table also shows how many years companies spent at No.1, within the top three, top five, and top 10.

Unsurprisingly, thanks to its two-decade-long run of second places, Komatsu occupies second place.

But the table also shows how Hitachi, Volvo Construction Equipment, and Liebherr are all enduring players at the top of the table, while Chinese OEMs like Sany, XCMG, and Zoomlion have broken into the establishment and are now among the long-term leaders.

Source, methodology, and disclaimer

The source for all of the above charts is International Construction magazine’s Yellow Table, published by KHL Group.

Positions in the Yellow Table are based on sales in the prior calendar year in US dollars. Currencies have been converted to dollars based on the average exchange rate over the course of that year to try and ensure fairness.

Each year, data was gathered from a variety of sources including audited accounts, company statements and reputable third-party sources.

In Japan and certain other countries, the use of the fiscal year (ending 31 March) has made it impossible to establish calendar year information. In these cases, fiscal year results were used. In some cases International Construction has made an estimate of revenues based on historical data and industry trends.

While every effort has been made to ensure this report’s information is accurate, International Construction and Construction Briefing do not accept any liability for errors or omissions.

If you would like to comment on the Yellow Table, or feel your company should be included, please e-mail International Construction’s editor at: andy.brown@khl.com