The worldwide hand tools and accessories market is dominated by North America and Europe, followed by Japan. Hand tools and hardware accessories is one of the few select industrial sectors, which is not affected by recession. During the period of recessions, when other industries face decline in growth, the hand tool industry continues to perform better than many other industries. This improved showing from hand tools industry can be attributed to the increase in demand among consumers who want to save money by undertaking the repair work themselves.

Not withstanding of its low profile, hand tools and hardware sector is one of the most consistently profitable industries across the world. Comparatively the industry is small in terms of sales volume in comparison to other industries. Nevertheless, growth in the hand tools and hardware accessories segment is noteworthy.

The global hand tools and accessories sector is expected to grow at around 4.6% annually over the period 2001-2010 to touch US$19.9 billion by 2010. Europe and North America between them share over 64% of the global hand tools and accessories market. Asia-Pacific region (barring Japan) is likely to provide the highest growth opportunity over the period this period, with a CAGR lingering around 9%, followed by Europe at 4.9%. Mechanics' service tools segment constitutes the largest sector of global hand tools and accessories market with an approximated share of 56.7% in 2007. The market of edge tools market is likely to grow fastest with a CAGR of about 5.2% during the period of 2001-2010.

Though hand tools and accessories are usually "low-tech" products, the industry in particular is highly automated, and employs sophisticated technology to design and manufacture premium quality products. Research is concentrated on improving the quality, durability and usability of various tools. Technical innovations are promptly adopted into the mainstream and efforts are continuously made by the producers to improve the efficiency and performance of hand tools to satisfy the various requirements of customers.

 

South East Asia constitutes a market with potential for exports from the saw manufacturers of US and Japan. Indonesia is looked at as a significant market for the tool industry, as the country has decided to restrict lumber exports and prepare its own lumber industry that would necessitate large quantities of saws.

Germany is a prominent exporter of precision tools, which include hand tools, power tools, grinding tools, molds, machine tools, and measuring instruments. In this market segment, Germany is followed by Japan, the US, Asia-Pacific and France.