The challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical environment will see growth in the global construction industry slow in 2024, says a recent report by GlobalData.

It anticipates that real global construction output will grow by 1.6%, having grown by 4.1% in 2023. Although the slowdown is being felt across many markets, we expect growth in advanced economies to be more impacted – with growth in 2024 falling by 1%, driven by lower output in Western Europe.

In comparison, growth in emerging markets will remain positive, at 3.3%, with South Asia posting the highest growth (6.0%) of any region globally. China’s real construction output will grow by 4% in 2024. Given the country’s dominance across the global construction market, global real construction output growth excluding China will be flat at 0.4%.

There is a clear divide in terms of how the construction industry is performing by sector. Overall real construction growth will be driven by energy and utilities and infrastructure construction. Real construction output in the energy and utilities sector is expected to grow by 6.4% year on year in 2024, which is 8.1% higher than pre-Covid levels recorded in  2019.

Real infrastructure construction output will grow by 6.4% in 2024.

The three largest markets for both energy and utilities and infrastructure sectors are China, the US and India. Combined, these three countries account for almost two-thirds (62.8%) of real construction output in the energy and utilities and just over half (53.8%) of real infrastructure construction output. China’s energy and utility sector is expected to grow by 9.2% in 2024, while the US and India markets are anticipated to grow by 12.7% and 7.1% respectively. In infrastructure construction, the US is expected to grow by 11.8% in 2024, with China growing by just under 11%.