The global refrigerator market size was valued at USD 93.46 billion in 2021 and is poised to grow from USD 100 billion in 2022 to USD 160.1 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 7% in the forecast period (2023-2030).

Refrigerators are available in different types based on size, features, and applications. The refrigerator market analysis is segmented into four product types: top freezer, bottom freezer, side by side and French door refrigerators. The top freezer segment is likely to dominate the market owing to its feature of having a combined freezer and refrigerator in a single unit that avoids the necessity to buy a separate chest freezer or to find separate space for food storage. Moreover, such type of products provides more usable storage space than the other types of units. The side-by-side category is set to exhibit the fastest growth in the forecast period as people can easily and quickly locate the required food product in these refrigerators because of their open side shelf sections and also, they provide more shelf space for consumer usage. The bottom freezer category is commonly popular among senior citizens as it does not have a mobility issue which makes them difficult to stoop down to address food items. The French door segment witnessed considerable growth because of their deeper drawer freezers that are widely used for storing frozen food items.

Looking at the global market by region, each market has different growth drivers as well as different preferences for different types of refrigerators.

The Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the market owing to the presence of a large population and households. Additionally, increasing infrastructural demand in this region would result in the increasing adoption of home appliance products. Other key factors that are supporting the growth of the market in Asia-Pacific include rising disposable income, increasing urbanization, & the number of households.

In the Asia Pacific region, the market offers great potential for foreign brands targeting the midend or premium markets. In recent years, the rising purchasing power among consumers there has boosted sales of home appliances with premium features, such as sidebyside or French door refrigerators.

Europe is projected to grow at a faster rate because of the introduction of technologically advanced refrigeration products by prominent companies in the region.

The average European refrigerator is the size of a beverage fridge you’d find in a U.S. dorm. Although smaller fridges mean using less energy and paying less for utilities, culture plays a big role. Europeans tend to live in compact cities and towns where specialty food shops are present in every neighborhood. The traditional practice has been to shop a little every day. In Europe, people tend to pass by their local food shops for fruit and vegetables, cheese, butter, bread, etc., on their way home from work or a friend’s house. Food is available when needed, so why bother filling your fridge to the brink?

North America is expected to hold a considerable share of the market because of the higher disposable income of the population in countries such as the United States and Canada. Moreover, factors such as a large urban population base and increasing nuclear families would result in the larger adoption of smart electrical appliances in the region.

When it comes to the preference, Americans have the biggest refrigerators in the world — 17.5 cubic feet of volume on average. The size of Americans’ refrigerators is followed closely by Canadians while the rest of the world lags far behind. Since those refrigerators run day and night, they use more energy than any other household appliance, which means their size has ramifications for the planet’s rate of global warming. Nowadays, companies in the home appliances industry are coming up with environmentally friendly refrigeration products that limit the carbon footprints and provide ease in the green initiatives towards environmental sustainability. However, the enormous popularity of refrigerators in the United States is an indicator of the value of refrigeration both for preserving the food we buy and for the convenience that comes when such huge machines are stocked. The fact that we put perishable food in the refrigerator (even sometimes when it doesn’t belong there) suggests that we still remember refrigeration’s most basic advantage: to prevent food from spoiling before we consume it. Most people would agree that fresh food tastes better than anything that's been kept in a refrigerator for even a short amount of time. But the reason why Americans want a weeks' worth of perishable food stored in their kitchen at one time is that Americans are slaves to convenience. Larger refrigerators do limit the number of shopping trips we have to take, and they also make it possible to consume a much greater variety of foods than ever did without them in our kitchens.

Growing middle-class population in countries such as Brazil and Argentina. Moreover, the increasing interest of people towards energy-efficient home appliances would help to create demand for energy-efficient refrigeration products in the region.

However, the Middle East and African market are driven by the smaller manufacturing base of home appliances brands. Moreover, a stiff increase in the spending power of the population for home appliances products is set to create demand for refrigerators in these regions.

Different markets have their preferences. Smad has been working in the global home appliance market for more than 20 years, and is well-versed in the preferences of various markets, providing multiple refrigerator categories for dealers to choose from. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.