The HPA's figures are drawn from a survey of its members which make up around 95% of the heat pump manufacturing market share.

The association said this boost in predicted sales is extremely promising for the industry on the road to net zero.

Last year, the Prime Minister laid out his 10 point plan for a green industrial revolution, which set out ambitions to roll out 600,000 heat pumps into homes per year by 2028.

With 35,000 heat pumps sold in 2019, the near doubling of the market is a significant step in the right direction, the HPA believes. The growth also closely aligns with the HPA’s roadmap to net zero, which called for 72,000 heat pump installations this year.

The association is committed to preparing and upskilling the installer base across the country so that they can recommend and deploy heat pumps at the scale net zero requires, while delivering long term benefits to customers across the country. The HPA outlined a new scalable route to becoming heat pump installer in its 2020 report: ‘Building the Installer Base for Net Zero Heating’. The route proposed begins with a technology neutral, low temperature heating course, before specialising in low carbon technologies including heat pumps.

The Heap Pump Association is making continuous progress with this new training route for heat pump installers, with courses expected to begin with the first quarter of this year.

Phil Hurley, chair of the HPA, said: “The near doubling of the heat pump market this year would be a substantial achievement at a time when the decarbonisation of homes and buildings is not just desired but essential; our members are committed to turning today’s forecast into a reality and have clearly backed this up with their advanced ordering.

'The estimation of 67,000 heat pumps in 2021 shows the confidence from members of the HPA in delivering the scale up of heat pumps that the Prime Minister’s 10 point plan necessitates. This is just the beginning of a long journey ahead but we’re off to an incredibly promising start.”