Global Bearings

Report Overview

The Aerospace Bearings Market Takes Off

In response to rising global consumer spending on air travel, manufacturers of private planes, commercial aircraft, and helicopters will ramp up production and unveil new models. The next generation of aerospace equipment will feature a variety of advanced technologies, helping to drive sales of high-end, sophisticated bearings. For instance, aircraft manufacturers are working to develop new, cleaner engines for aerospace applications, and these require a variety of advanced bearings. In the wake of the war in Ukraine and Fighting in the Middle East, defense spending is expected to rise in many parts of the world and the production of military jets, helicopters, drones, and satellites will increase in many parts of the world. The use of drones will increase rapidly in numerous other applications during the 2025-2030 period, ranging from agriculture to logistics. Long-term, the segment will benefit greatly from the growing use of satellites, rockets, and spacecraft.

Key Questions Answered in the Report:

• Where is global aerospace equipment production capacity concentrated?
• What countries will see the fastest aerospace bearing sales growth through 2030?
• What are the long-term growth prospects of the aerospace bearing segment?

Featuring 92 Tables & 71 Figures!

Global demand for bearings was $106 billion in 2025 and is projected to increase 6.4% per year to $144 billion in 2030. Growth will be supported by advances in manufacturing activity and the development of new, higher value bearing technologies for a wide range of applications.

Aircraft Production, Cleaner Engines, & Military Spending Drive Aerospace Equipment Market

Bearings sales for the aerospace equipment market are expected to grow at the fastest rate of any bearings market. Gains will be supported by an increase in aircraft production, boosted by rising personal incomes rise and international travel. More advanced bearings will see greater use as aerospace suppliers increasingly turn to newly developed, cleaner turbine engines as concerns about the impact of the aerospace sector on climate change and air quality intensify. The aerospace equipment market will also benefit from rising military spending as a result of a number of international conflicts, which will spur increasing production of military jets, helicopters, and drones.

Rising Machinery Production & Accelerating Technological Innovation to Drive Bearing Sales

More than one-third of new bearings demand will be concentrated in the machinery market through 2030. As the production of industrial machinery, off-highway equipment, material handling equipment, and other machinery increases at a solid rate through 2030, associated bearing sales will rise. Many manufacturers will incorporate advanced, newly developed bearing technologies into their next generation of machinery and equipment, helping to make them more efficient, capable, and reliable than predecessors. As global stocks of machinery and equipment grow, associated aftermarket bearing sales and demand for bearing parts will increase significantly.

Electric Vehicles Are Turning Bearings into High-Value, Sophisticated Components

The ongoing shift toward electric and hybrid motor vehicles will create greater demand for higher-value bearings:

• Because bearings play a more specialized role in electric and hybrid models – reflecting their specific, demanding requirements – electric vehicles are changing both what types of bearings are used and where bearings are employed.
• This trend is also greatly impacting both bearing design – with a focus on compactness and lower friction – and bearing material trends, including greater use of ceramic balls.

Global Bearings Report Details

Leading Companies Driving Trends in the Global Bearings Industry

The Asia/Pacific Region’s Dominance Continues

Through 2030, two-thirds of global market gains will be concentrated in the Asia/Pacific region, with China account for the bulk of new bearing demand. Both industrializing (e.g., India, Thailand) and mature (e.g., South Korea, Taiwan) regional markets are expected to perform well during the forecast period. Many of the Asia/Pacific region’s durable goods industries – which are highly competitive and export oriented – have above average growth prospects. The region also has massive stocks of machinery, motor vehicles, and motorcycles, resulting in high levels of aftermarket bearing sales. Many of the region’s leading industrial enterprises are at the forefront of technological innovation and they will be among the first to adopt new bearing technologies. Finally, the rise of wind energy in the region will help to drive both OEM and MRO bearing sales in the region.

Global Bearings Report Scope

This study analyzes the global bearing industry. Bearing products include:

• unmounted ball bearings
• unmounted roller bearings
  • tapered
  • spherical
  • needle
  • cylindrical
• unmounted plain bearings
  • journal
  • spherical
  • thrust and other plain bearings
• mounted and combined ball/roller bearings (e.g., flange, hanger, pillow block, take-up)
• separately sold bearing parts (including balls, rollers, cages, cups, rings, housing closures, seals, shields, spacers)

Excluded from the scope of this study are:

• adaptor and withdrawal sleeves
• flexure, fluid, and magnetic bearings
• lock nuts and washers
• lubricators
• retaining plates

Whenever possible, efforts were made to prevent bearing sales from being counted more than once in the numbers presented here, although it is difficult to do because of the structure of the bearing industry. For example, cages manufactured by one company and balls made by another firm might be sold to a third enterprise, which uses these and other components fabricated internally to produce unmounted ball bearings. These bearings might then be sold to a fourth company, which uses them and housing purchased from a fifth firm to assemble mounted ball bearing units, which are then sold to end users. Each of the business transactions by these five enterprises is reported as a bearing product sale. As a result, final sales to bearing users are somewhat different in dollar terms than total bearing company product sales.

In addition, bearing demand is analyzed by market:

• machinery, including:
  • agricultural equipment
  • construction machinery
  • material handling equipment
  • food and beverage processing machinery
  • forestry equipment
  • mining machinery
  • oil and gas equipment
  • industrial equipment
  • machine tools
  • packaging equipment
  • pumps
  • utility equipment
• motor vehicles (e.g., automobiles; light, medium, and heavy trucks; recreational vehicles; mini-buses and shuttles; all-terrain vehicles; motor coaches and transit buses; vans)
  • original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
  • aftermarket (MRO)
• aerospace (e.g., airplanes, drones, helicopters, rockets, satellites, space vehicles)
• motorcycles, including internal combustion engine and electric moped, motorcycles, and scooters
• other markets, including:
  • appliances
  • bicycles
  • boats, ships, and other marine equipment
  • electronics and electrical equipment
  • instruments
  • medical products
  • military hardware
  • railway equipment
  • sports equipment
  • wind turbines

Historical data (2015, 2019, 2025) and forecasts for 2030 and 2035 are provided for shipments, demand, and net exports of bearings in current US dollars at the manufacturers’ level. Annual data for 2022-2029 is also presented. In addition, year-by-year historical sales are provided in US dollars and local currency (when applicable) for the major countries discussed in the report.

Relevant Harmonized System (HS) product codes, developed by the World Customs Organization, are provided here for reference.