Surveyor’s transit theodolite

Surveying demands precise spatial measurements, necessary for defining legal property lines.

Survey equipment exports by country totaled US$9.3 billion in 2015, down by -15.3% for all surveying equipment exporters over the five-year period starting in 2011. The value of exported surveying equipment fell by an even more intense -20% from 2014 to 2015.

Among continents, European countries accounted for the highest dollar worth of exported surveying equipment during 2015 with shipments valued at $3.8 billion or 41.2% of global exports.

In second place were North American exporters at 26.9% while 26.3% of worldwide survey equipment shipments originated from Asia.

The 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 9015 for surveying equipment, including for photogrammetrical surveying, hydrographic, oceanographic, hydrological and meteorological purposes.

Top Surveying Equipment Exporters by Country

Countries

Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of survey equipment during 2015:

United States: US$2 billion (21.3% of all exported survey equipment)
United Kingdom: $855.7 million (9.2%)
Germany: $699.6 million (7.5%)
China: $680 million (7.3%)
Singapore: $613.8 million (6.6%)
France: $470.5 million (5.1%)
Norway: $467 million (5.03%)
Canada: $462.7 million (4.98%)
Switzerland: $407.4 million (4.4%)
Hong Kong: $347.3 million (3.7%)
Malaysia: $262.1 million (2.8%)
Netherlands: $240.1 million (2.6%)
Japan: $184.6 million (2%)
Finland: $132.5 million (1.43%)
Australia: $127.9 million (1.38%)

The listed 15 countries shipped 85.4% of all surveying equipment exports in 2015 (by value).

Among the above countries, the fastest-growing surveying equipment exporters since 2011 were: Malaysia (up 97.7%), Hong Kong (up 73.7%), Norway (up 65.1%) and Singapore (up 34.2%).

Those countries that posted declines in their exported surveying equipment sales were led by: Japan (down -51.9%), France (down -51.3%), United Kingdom (down -37%) and Netherlands (down -31.1%).

Advantages

The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for surveying equipment during 2015. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s exported survey equipment and its import purchases for that same commodity.

United States: US$775.7 million (net export surplus down -40.6% since 2011)
United Kingdom: $286.1 million (down -48.4%)
Germany: $253.9 million (down -38.2%)
Canada: $210.4 million (up 93.1%)
Switzerland: $195.7 million (down -30.4%)
France: $178.5 million (down -73.4%)
Hong Kong: $120 million (up 153.8%)
Finland: $103.5 million (up 22%)
Netherlands: $88.8 million (down -25.5%)
Singapore: $43.7 million (down -41.7%)
Austria: $32 million (down -34.8%)
Malaysia: $13.4 million (down -132.5%)
China: $13 million (down -118.9%)
Denmark: $11.6 million (down -31.3%)
Sweden: $10.5 million (down -19.4%)

United States has the highest surplus in the international trade of survey equipment. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms America’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.

Opportunities

The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for surveying equipment during 2015. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s imported survey equipment purchases and its exports for that same commodity.

United Arab Emirates: -US$366.9 billion (net export deficit down -30.2% since 2011)
Saudi Arabia: -$176.9 million (up 338.3%)
Russia: -$166.5 million (down -30.1%)
Spain: -$133.3 million (up 282.3%)
South Korea: -$101.7 million (up 12.4%)
Norway: -$100.9 million (down -481.8%)
Australia: -$97.7 million (down -15.3%)
Pakistan: -$83.7 million (up 177.5%)
Kuwait: -$72.6 million (up 413.4%)
Iraq: -$66.8 million (down -46.6%)
India: -$63.7 million (up 20.4%)
Turkey: -$54.3 million (down -0.2%)
Japan: -$54.2 million (down -131.3%)
Indonesia: -$52.5 million (down -55%)
Vietnam: -$48.6 million (up 135%)

United Arab Emirates incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of surveying equipment. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights UAE’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for survey equipment-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.

Companies

Survey Equipment Companies

Below are global survey equipment-processing conglomerates that represent established players that sell measurement apparatus and supporting materials internationally. Shown within parenthesis is the home country for each business.

Geo Industries Co Ltd (China)
Imajing (France)
Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany)
Sun Survey Systems (India)
Leica Geosystems (Switzerland)
Bathey Survey Markers, Inc (United Kingdom)
Datum Survey Products Ltd (United Kingdom)
Renishaw (United Kingdom)
Dunham & Morrow Inc (United States)
SECO (United States)

According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following firms are examples of surveying equipment providers. The home-country location for each business is shown within parentheses: