After sales of these products hit a record high of almost $5.2bn in 2011, the region’s economic troubles have taken their toll on the market, with revenues predicted to drop to around $4.9bn by the end of 2013.

IHS does not expect a recovery to begin in industries that are the biggest users of geared products – such as construction, mining and materials-handling – until after the financial climate in Europe stabilises. It predicts that Emea revenues from industrial geared products will improve slowly from 2014, with sales next year likely to be 2.5% higher than in 2013.

“Until the EU banking system is capable of becoming more lenient in lending, companies will struggle when it comes to initiating large-scale, multi-year projects,” says Paul Sundberg, IHS’ analyst for motors and mechanical power transmission. “The ongoing debt crisis and the lack of a resolution – with Cyprus also affected in the most recent events – will continue to weigh down any efforts toward job growth.”