Construction equipment sales by the world's 50 largest manufacturers grew 25% last year to USD182 billion, according to KHL Group's annual Yellow Table survey.

This surpassed the previous high of USD168 billion set in 2008, prior to the global financial crisis.

The Yellow Table, which is a ranking of the world's 50 largest construction equipment makers, saw relatively few changes at the top of the listing, with the industry's long-standing number one and number two, US-based Caterpillar and Japan's Komatsu, continuing to maintain their positions.

The Top 10 list includes Volvo Construction Equipment, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Liebherr, Sany, Zoomlion, Terex, Doosan Infracore and John Deere. China-based XCMG fell out of the top 10, having sat in 10th place for two years.

Rankings were based on revenues from construction equipment sales in US dollars in 2011.

Across the top 50, US-headquartered companies accounted for 31.2% of total revenues, up from 29.5% the previous year. This was followed by Japan, with a 23.2% share - down from 23.5% the previous year; and China, which had a 16.9% share - up from 15.0% in the 2011 edition, which was based on 2010 revenues.

China's construction equipment manufacturers have seen their share of the top 50's revenues climb for six consecutive years. Over the last decade, their share has increased more than 10-fold.

In 2003, the first year the Yellow Table was published, China's manufacturers had a share of just 1.6%, worth just USD841 million. Today their 16% share is worth USD30.6 billion.

Report author Chris Sleight says that a rebound in the European, North American and Japanese construction markets was the key growth driver last year.

"There was also growth for some of China's larger players, but they faced the first significant headwinds for more than a decade as the country's stimulus spending programs came to an end.

"Over the next 12 months, the continued recovery in North America is likely to be decisive for the 2013 Yellow Table," he adds.

Established in 1989, KHL Group claims to be the first publisher in the construction industry to launch a website in the early '90s and to be accredited by the BPA International independent circulation audit in specific markets.