As we are in the final year and closing of the decade, we can look back on how the construction industry progressed through recent years; actively participating in building the future of the modern world.
There were challenges that the construction industry faced and will continue to face including adopting to the always changing economic and social climate, finding and retaining talent, increasing material prices, trying to keep up with the rapid pace of technology and many more elements. New technologies and construction trends such as drone mapping and BIM software are creating new solutions for previous inefficiencies and increasing safety on the construction site.
Digital is transforming the industry and many countries are already embracing it. Others are also following and are ready to invest and they understand that this is the way forward. Therefore, we should be optimistic and continue to build the projects of tomorrow while entering a new decade.
We’ve gathered 44 interesting worldwide construction statistics you need to know in 2020 including insights about the trends, development, safety, software, gender and more. Keep reading to get an overview of the direction the construction industry is heading.
1. European construction growth forecasted at 2.3% in 2019 will stabilise at around 1% in 2020-2022 – world trade is reducing industrial production and the propensity to investment in Europe. [EUROCONSTRUCT]
2. South and South-East Asia will be the fastest growing region in 2019-2023, with average annual growth of 6.5%. [GlobeNewswire]
3. In Europe Ireland shows the strongest cumulative growth 2019-2022 +30.1%, followed by Hungary +16.6% and Poland +15.4%. [EUROCONSTRUCT]
4. European renovation construction will rise, meanwhile the new construction sector will begin to weaken in 2020. [EUROCONSTRUCT]
Industry Fact – 98% of mega construction projects experience cost overruns with an average cost increase of 80% of original value and scheduling delays with average 20 months per project
5. Main construction sector in Europe will face a decline in average annual growth in 2020-2022, while civil engineering is expected to grow by 2.2%, non-residential by 1.0% and residential construction by only 0.5%. [EUROCONSTRUCT]
6. China is the country with the most of skyscrapers, followed by United States and United Arab Emirates. [The Skyscraper Center]
7. China produces the most cement globally (over half of the world’s cement) at an estimated 2.4 billion metric tons in 2018, followed by India at 290 million metric tons and United States at 88.5 million metric tons. In Europe Turkey is the only country producing large amounts of cement. [Statista]
Construction Costs8. China, United States, India, Indonesia and Japan are predicted to be investing the most in construction by 2030. [PBCtoday]
9. Construction costs keep growing at around 0.6% per quarter since 2016. For comparison between 2010 and 2015 they grew at a moderately pace of around 0.3% per quarter. [Eurostat]
10. New York City is the most expensive place in the world to build, with an average cost of $3,900 per m² followed by San Francisco ($3,736.7 per m²) and Hong Kong ($3,703.9 per m²). [Turner & Townsend]
11. The average labour costs worldwide is $29.9 hourly. [Turner & Townsend]
12. The markets with the lowest construction wages are Bangalore, Ho Chi Minh City and Kigali, where wages were all below $3 an hour. The cheapest is Bangalore where average hourly wages are at $1.1. [Turner & Townsend]
13. Zurich remains the market with the highest labour costs with an average hourly wage of $104.1, then New York City with $98.3 and San Francisco with $84.2. [Turner & Townsend]
14. Job vacancy numbers recorded in the UK in June to August 2018 were the highest they have been since 2001, at 833,000. [EngineeringUK]
15. The top 3 global construction challenges are: skilled labour shortages, government red tape, bureaucracy and delayed approvals and low workplace productivity including inefficient and outdated work practices. [Turner & Townsend]
16. 98% of mega construction projects experience cost overruns with an average cost increase of 80% of original value and scheduling delays with average 20 months per project. [McKinsey & Company]
17. Construction building permits in Europe is now at the level to which it had dropped during the financial and economic crisis. [Eurostat]
18. The top 3 issues identified as holding back construction activities in Ireland are: shortage of skilled workers, tender price inflation and planning and regulation. [PwC]
Industry Fact – 98% of mega construction projects experience cost overruns with an average cost increase of 80% of original value and scheduling delays with average 20 months per project
19. The global construction software market is due to reach $2715.6 million by the end of 2023. [MarketWatch]
20. Analytics and data are one of the major trends in the construction industry as they enable companies to be more productive and efficient and reach business goals. [Deloitte]
21. 82% of companies plan to spend the same or more on technology. [Project Management]
22. 37% of construction companies are experimenting with drones (10% increase from 2016). [JBKnowledge]
23. The most preferable functionalities in construction software are projects tracking, job costing, project estimating, process standardization/automation, and improved technology efficiency. [Project Management]
24. Ease of use is primary consideration of purchasing construction software, even more important than functionality, cost or the ability to integrate with existing software. [Project Management]
25. 82% of contractors agree that BIM is the future of design process and project information. [NBS]
26. 70% of contractors think that BIM is still not sufficiently standardised across the industry. [NBS]
27. Only 24% of construction workers are “very comfortable” with new technology. [JBKnowledge]
28. 57% of construction firms are considering employee tracking on the job-site. [JBKnowledge]
29. The UK has the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in Europe, at less than 10%, while Latvia, Bulgaria and Cyprus lead with nearly 30%. [Women’s Engineering Society]
30. Only 9% of senior executive jobs in construction sector in Ireland belong to women. [Central Statistics Office]
31. The median salary in annual gross pay for full time employees across all professional engineering occupations in the UK was 18.7% higher for men. [EngineeringUK]
32. The construction industry has what is considered an ageing workforce: the number of employees above 60 is increasing more than any other age group, while the number of workers under age 25 is decreasing. [CIOB]
Industry Fact – 98% of mega construction projects experience cost overruns with an average cost increase of 80% of original value and scheduling delays with average 20 months per project
33. Construction, manufacturing and transport and storage industries are leading in fatal accidents at work in Europe. [Eurostat]
34. 75% of all non-fatal work injuries in the EU were in the construction sector. [Eurostat]
35. Work-related injuries have caused companies to lose 104,000,000 production days. [Injury Facts]
36. Nearly half of all deaths on construction sites occur in companies with 10 or fewer employees or among those who are self-employed [CDC]
37. During a 45-year career, a construction worker
has a 75% likelihood of suffering a disabling injury and 1 in 200 chance to die from a work-related incident. [Safety+Health]
38. The “Fatal Four” leading causes of private sector working fatalities in the construction industry are falls, being struck by an object, electrocution and being caught in something or between two objects. These accidents are responsible for 59.9% of construction worker deaths. [OSHA]
39. 40% drop in the number of site accidents in the Irish construction industry in 2019. These statistics are declining year on year, thanks to the trend that has been lead by construction companies adopting behavioural, technological and psychological best-practice to embed safety on thousands of sites around the country. [HSE] [CIF]
40. Smart Cities spending will reach $158 Billion in 2022, with Singapore, Tokyo, and New York among top spenders. [IDC]
41. Australia currently has one of the most active green building markets, followed by China (Hong Kong), Ireland, Canada, Singapore and UAE. [World GBC]
42. It’s expected that by 2021 the following countries will do more than 60% green projects: UEA, Australia, Norway, India, Ireland and Mexico. [World GBC]
43. Client demand, environmental regulation and healthier buildings are the top 3 triggers driving future green building construction. [World GBC]
44. Higher costs, lack of political support or incentives and affordability are the top 3 barriers to increased green building construction. [World GBC]
Industry Fact – Smart Cities spending will reach $158 Billion in 2022, with Singapore, Tokyo, and New York among top spenders
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