Global Construction To Hit $17.5 Trillion by 2030

cnstrctr Insight

The last decade has seen unprecedented growth within the North American and global construction markets. With the growing demand for labour, materials and technology the construction industry is primed for success over the next ten years into 2030.

The article published on Construct Connect highlights that the volume of work is supposed to grow to 17.5 billion by 2030. To put that into percentage that’s close to an 85% growth.

The bulk of the market growth will come in emerging markets such as China and India but North America will continue to see growth. The largest growth area will be roads and infrastructure.

The article focuses on areas of innovation being adopted to help advance the industry. Having been on the front lines of the construction industry myself I struggle to see the entire industry changing enough to take on this amount of work.

Is Construction Innovation Enough?

An 85% increase in the amount of work we have now is a scary thing. With many of our older workers retiring in the next 10 years the current labour force will not be able to keep up.

The article that was published by Construct Connect reinforcing construction collaboration and innovation, but, in my opinion the construction industry isn’t adapting fast enough. Modular construction isn’t being used regularly, contractors still don’t use digital management systems and consultants still aren’t on board with BIM.

The articles that get published on innovation in the construction industry are all really great but the reality is the industry is adopting far too slowly for this to make a difference.

So what’s the impact then if this much work is coming up? Well for one the government may need to step in and help incentivize people to go into the skilled trades or construction fields. This could help to alleviate a labour shortage in the long run.

Impact On Cost and Timeframe

Regardless of whether or not the construction industry changes in time it will mean major impacts to project cost and timeframes. In an industry that is short staffed projects will get longer, more troublesome and more expensive.

This will impact owners, real estate companies and governments the most as a large portion of their capital goes into development.

With that being said we have an exciting ten years in the construction industry to look forward to. What do you think? Are there ways that the construction industry can sail smoothly through the next decade? Let me know in the comments below.