Global construction to grow +70% to US$ 12 trillion by 2020

Global construction output will grow to US$ 12 trillion by 2020, a +70% increase on this year's figure of US$ 7.2 trillion, according to a new report by Global Construction Perspectives and Oxford Economics. The report, Global Construction 2020, goes on to say that half of the US$ 4.8 trillion increase will come from China, India and the US.

"Construction has never seen such rapid growth above GDP, fuelled by the emerging super powers of China and India and a rebound in US construction," said Graham Robinson, one of the report's authors.

The report also says that 2010 saw China overtake the US as the world's largest construction market, driven by the government's stimulus spending plan. The Chinese construction market is expected to more than double in size by 2020 to a value of US$ 2.5% trillion - about 21% of the global total.

The report also predicts that India will overtake Japan as the world's third largest construction market by 2018.

Growth levels in the Middle East and North Africa region are expected to average +6% per year over the next five years, while Latin America will grow at +5.2%, with some countries, including Qatar, Mexico and Brazil, beating these regional growth rates.

Regarding mature markets, the report says there will be a strong rebound in the US construction market over the next five years, with annual growth averaging +7.8%. Western Europe will be flat in comparison, with average growth only expected to hit 1.7% per year.

The report also said that infrastructure is unlikely to be the same diver of growth it has been in the past, due to funding issues in the public sector.