In 2012, the world market for air conditioning was valued at US$87.5 billion; stagnant by 0.43% compared with US$87.1billion in 2011, evidence that the global AC market is suffering from the eurozone crisis.

Asia Pacific is still the largest world region in terms of air conditioning sales with US$49.4 billion by 56.5% of the world market in 2012. Within the region, as previous years, China and Japan represent the biggest markets, with 82% by value of the market.

Many markets decreased in 2012, following deterioration in economic conditions. The Brazilian market declined in 2012, but the long term outlook is positive with demand coming from major refurbishment projects, due to the two forthcoming sporting events in 2014 and 2016. The USA is slowly pulling itself out of the recession, but progress is slow.

Europe is still struggling to recover from the Euro crisis and it is not showing any recovery soon. Spain, Greece, Italy and Cyprus continue to face a situation of extreme fragility. The result is a very low confidence in economic growth prospects within the region. The recession affected the construction market and is having a direct impact on air conditioning market.

Market conditions in the Middle East, Africa and Indian subcontinent have been dampened by the Arab Spring uprisings, which have resulted in a slight decrease by 1% in volume and 2% in value. Overall though; some countries have been adversely affected by the continuing Arab Spring crisis, others have benefited such as UAE, where the Dubai hospitality sector is booming, though the UAE air conditioning market as a whole was down by value and up by volume.

The Arab Spring has resulted in Dubai international airport being used as a hub for on-going travellers, and increasing the interest for Dubai as a holiday destination. The number of tourists has increased as well as international travellers, using Dubai as a stop gap. This has resulted in hotel occupancy going up, which has benefited the economy.

India and Saudi Arabia are the most important markets of the region. The Egyptian government increased social spending to address public dissatisfaction, but political uncertainty at the same time caused economic growth to slow.