For the first time since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic adversely impacted the equipment and event rental industry last year, the latest American Rental Association (ARA) forecast calls for more positive growth in 2021 and beyond.

The previous forecast, released on Nov. 12, 2020, projected a modest uptick of 0.3 percent in equipment and event rental revenue in 2021, but the new forecast, released Feb. 16, 2021, shows an expectation of more than 1.5 percent growth in 2021 to surpass $50.2 billion.

This comes after a difficult 2020, where total industry revenues dipped 11.7 percent to just under $49.5 billion, with party and event showing a decline of 49 percent.

Construction, which showed an 11 percent decline in 2020, is expected to show a 1 percent drop in 2021 while general tool rental revenue is expected to grow 4 percent and party and event starts to recover from the devastation of 2020 to grow 37 percent in 2021.

Overall, the ARA forecast calls for accelerated recovery in 2022 with revenues growing 11.3 percent to $55.9 billion, then nearly 5 percent to $58.7 billion in 2023 and another 3.1 percent to $60.5 billion in 2024.

All three segments are expected to surpass peak revenues of 2019 by the end of 2022.

For Canada, the ARA forecast shows an expected 7.3 percent increase in equipment and event rental revenue in 2021 to $5.2 billion with steady growth in the succeeding years of the forecast, including 7.2 percent growth in 2022, 6.5 percent in 2023 and 3.5 percent in 2024 to nearly $6.2 billion.

This comes after a 12.2 percent drop in revenue in 2020, including a 12 percent decline in construction rental revenue, a 9 percent drop in general tool revenue and a decline of 35 percent in party and event.

The same as in the U.S., party and event is expected to start recovery in 2021, growing 29 percent. All the segments are expected to exceed peak revenues achieved in 2019 by the end of 2023.