Global Construction Market Predicted to Increase Nearly 4% through 2020

From 2016 to 2020, the construction industries in advanced economies combined are forecast to expand by 2.2% a year on average, while emerging markets will record a 5.3% annual expansion

Timetric

The global construction industry has regained growth momentum, with the pace of expansion accelerating from an annual average of 2.7 percent a year in 2011-2013 to 3.1 percent in 2014. The forecast is for a further uptick to 3.8 percent in 2015, and then an average annual increase of 3.9 percent in 2016-2020, according to the latest analysis from Timetric’s Construction Intelligence Center (CIC).

Based on the CIC’s Global 50, a grouping of the 50 largest and most influential markets in the world, the global industry is projected to grow from $7.4 trillion in 2010 to $8.5 trillion in 2015 and to $10.3 trillion in 2020, when measured at constant 2010 prices and exchange rates (Real 2010 US$).

“This expansion provides huge opportunities to those investing and operating in the industry as well as those supplying goods and services to it. However, the expansion is neither uniform across the world nor within regions, and risks and challenges abound,” says Danny Richards, lead economist at CIC.

Broadly, the construction industries in emerging markets are forecast to continue to grow at a much faster rate than the advanced economies. With reference to the CIC Global 50, emerging markets accounted for more than half of the world’s construction output for the first time ever in 2012 (at 2010 US$) and by 2020 it will have a 56 percent share.

From 2016-2020, the construction industries in advanced economies combined are forecast to expand by 2.2 percent a year on average, while emerging markets will record a 5.3 percent annual expansion during the same period. However, the advanced economies are at least improving, with growth accelerating from just 0.6 percent a year on average in 2011-2015.

The construction industries in the Middle East and Africa region are predicted to be the fastest growing in 2016-2020, overtaking the Asia-Pacific region, which held the top spot in 2011-2015. Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific’s share of the global construction industry will continue to rise, reaching close to 49 percent in 2020, up from 40 percent in 2010.

Latest