AEA figures reveal that 8,385 new tractors (50hp+) were registered in the UK during the first nine months (Jan-Sep) of this year, a drop of 4.6% on the 8,792 units during the same nine months in 2015. The total power sold during the first nine months of this year of 1.358 million HP, is a year-on-year decrease of 2.5%. However, average tractor size of 161.9hp is a 2.2% increase on the same nine months last year, with significant increases in the 161-200hp and 241+hp sectors. Registrations of tractors from 161-200hp rose by over a third during the first nine months of this year to 1,500 units (1,111 in 2015), and the numbers of 241hp+ tractors increased by around 13% to 698 units (618 during the first nine months of 2015). The increasing popularity of 161-200hp tractors comes at the expense of the 121-140hp and 141-160hp power brackets. Around 1,000 121-140hp tractors were registered during the first nine months of this year – down 11.5% on the 1,133 units recorded during the first nine months of 2015. Registrations in the 141-160hp category fell by over 26% to 1,445 (1,960 in 2015). Finally, East and West Midlands, Yorkshire, Humberside and the Home Counties, all enjoyed moderate increases in the number of registrations compared with the same nine months of 2015. Otherwise, the numbers are down in all other areas of the country. The biggest drops were recorded in the South East and Channel Islands (-10%) and Wales (-8%), with many other areas, including Eastern and Northern England, down by an average of 6%.