Sales grow again after two years of decline
According to the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), around 2.9 million domestic heat pumps were sold across 21 European countries in 2025, an increase of about 13 % on 2024, taking the installed stock to roughly 29.3 million units. The rebound follows declines in 2023 and 2024, when high electricity prices and policy uncertainty cut demand sharply.
Germany led the recovery: heat pumps accounted for around half of all heat generators sold there for the first time. The United Kingdom grew by 27 % to about 125,000 units, supported by the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and Belgium reached about 111,000 units. Sales fell in France, where support schemes were in flux, and in Poland, where EHPA points to disinformation about the technology.
Why the market turned
EHPA attributes the growth mainly to governments stabilising subsidy schemes and reducing taxes and levies on electricity, which narrows the gap between electricity and gas prices — the ratio that decides whether a heat pump is cheaper to run than a boiler. Countries with the lowest electricity-to-gas price ratios consistently record the highest heat pump sales.
The regulatory backdrop is also firming up. The recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive ends financial incentives for stand-alone fossil-fuel boilers from 2025 and sets a path to phase them out by 2040. Under the F-gas Regulation (EU) 2024/573, monoblock heat pumps up to 50 kW and small split air-to-water units may no longer contain refrigerants with a GWP of 150 or more from 1 January 2027, accelerating the shift to propane (R290) products.
Targets and what they mean for suppliers
The REPowerEU plan of 2022 called for 10 million additional heat pumps within five years and around 30 million hydronic units by 2030, and the European Commission has announced an Electrification Action Plan and a Heating and Cooling Strategy for 2026 to address electricity pricing, grids and installation capacity. Even at the 2025 pace, sales must rise further to meet these ambitions.
For manufacturers and distributors the message is clear: demand is returning, but it favours R290 monoblocks with high seasonal efficiency, hot-water-capable flow temperatures and low sound levels, backed by well-documented technical data and trained installer networks.
