Key Construction Industry Statistics:
- In 2020, the global construction industry revenue was over $12.6 trillion. It's one of the largest and most profitable industries in the world.
- In 2020, the revenue of the U.S. construction industry was $1.36 trillion.
- There are 7.56 million construction workers in the United States as of 2021.
- As of 2021, the U.S. state with the most construction jobs is California.
- The average age of a construction worker is 42 years old.
- Women comprise 11% of construction workers in the United States.
- There were 1,034 work-related fatalities in construction industry in the United States in 2021.
- In 2019, Great Britain's construction industry revenue reached an all-time high of $161.42 billion.
- The Asia-Pacific region makes up 46% of the global construction industry's revenue.
- The residential construction sector makes about 40% of the total construction industry revenue.
- In 2021, China landed construction contracts worth over $5.13 trillion.
- Singapore's infrastructure was worth over $95.2 billion in 2021.
- The United States plans to invest $1 trillion into U.S. infrastructure projects and jobs.
Construction Industry Overview
Chapter 1: Global Construction Statistics
The construction industry is one of the largest industries by volume and revenue in the world. Think about it - something is always being built somewhere.
The industry is almost untouchable. While many construction companies lost revenue due to the pandemic, they still made enough to keep going strong. In fact, these companies were deemed as essential and were allowed to operate even when the world was shut down.
So what makes the construction industry so successful? The statistics below will put this industry into perspective for you.
How big is the construction industry?
The global construction industry revenue was over $12.6 trillion in 2020.
Despite the pandemic setting most economies back, the construction industry didn't lose too much steam as a whole.
The industry has an estimated CAGR of 7.4% over the next few years. Every sector of the industry has a positive forecast.
There are four main sectors in the construction industry: residential, commercial, specialized industrial, and infrastructure and heavy construction.
Residential accounts for over 40% of the entire construction industry revenue.
The Asia-Pacific area has the largest share of the global construction market at 42% in 2020. The United States has the second largest share at 10.8% - not even half of what the Asia-Pacific area brings in.
Construction companies all over the world are experiencing decreased profit margins due to the rising costs in materials as well as the labor shortage. For example, crude oil rose as high as 43% and cement prices rose as high as 2.5 percent.
Top Causes Of Death In Construction (2018)
- Falls: 33.5% of construction deaths were causes by falls.
- Falling objects: 11.1% of construction deaths were causes by falling objects.
- Electrocution: 8.5% of construction deaths were causes by electrocution.
- Caught-in/Compressed by equipment: 5.5% of construction deaths were caused by workers caught-in or compressed by equipment or objects.
Safety in the construction industry is a big global concern since fatalities tend to be higher in this industry than many others. In fact, the construction industry has the third highest rate of fatalities in the world.
Around 34% of construction-related fatalities are due to falls. These falls are often preventable. A lot of these deaths could be reduced if workers simply followed safety policies.
The "Fatal Four" account for more than 60% of construction-related deaths. The four areas are falls, electrocution, being struck by an object, or being caught in, under, or in-between objects. Safety on construction sites is a hot topic of debate in all countries since the injury and fatality rates are so high.
Crane malfunctions are a major cause of deaths in the construction industry. In 2017, there were 33 crane related deaths in the United States. Around 79% of these involved an object falling from a crane.
Chapter 2: United States Construction Industry Statistics
The United States has numerous construction companies and plenty of contracts to go around.
While the United States doesn't have the top construction industry in the world, the American industry still brings in a phenomenal amount of money and provides a solid share of jobs for the American citizens.
The industry has seen steady growth over many years and didn't suffer too much from the pandemic. The salary in the industry is great and the overall outlook on the industry is positive.
How big is the construction industry in the U.S?
In 2020, the United States construction industry was worth around $1.36 trillion.
That's a decline of about .2% from the previous year. The decline is almost small enough to ignore.
The construction industry makes up around 4.3% of the annual GDP of the United States.
This may not seem like a lot, but when you consider the fact that there are 69 industries in the U.S. you can understand why that number is a good number. The construction industry is the 13th largest industry in the United States.
The largest industry in the United States is real estate. The real estate industry could not exist without the construction industry. As long as the real estate industry continues to thrive, the construction industry will stay strong.
Construction Spending Data
- The U.S. construction spending totaled $1.3 trillion in 2019.
- The average U.S. total construction spending was $1.04 trillion between 2009 and 2019.
- The U.S. private sector construction spending was $977 billion in 2019.
- The U.S. public sector construction spending was $329 billion in 2019.
- The U.S. commercial construction spending was $92 billion in 2019.
- The U.S. single-family residential construction spending was $276 billion in 2019.
- The construction industry in the U.S. accounted for 4.1% of the US GDP in 2019.
Top 5 States With The Most Construction Spending (2019)
- Texas - $45.4 billion
- New York - $32.1 billion
- California - $24.8 billion
- Florida - $23 billion
- Pennsylvania - $12.6 billion
Top 5 States With The Least Construction Spending (2019)
- Wyoming - $298 million
- Vermont - $363 million
- Alaska - $449 million
- Montana - $532 million
- West Virginia - $654 million
Construction Dispute Statistics
The average length of construction disputes in North America was 17.6 months, with the average value of construction disputes at $18.8 million in 2019.
Interestingly, the most common construction dispute case was listed as contractor/subcontractor "failing to understand and/or comply" with a contractual obligation in 2019.
Around 11% of the construction workers in the United States are female.
Efforts are being made to make the industry more inclusive. There are groups aimed at recruiting women into the industry.
There are scholarships and awards that are specifically for women going into construction. Unfortunately there is simply a slim pool of women who want to go into the construction industry.
Around 44% of women in the construction industry are in management or other professional positions.
About 28% of them are in sales or office positions.
That leaves the last 28% to fill the hands-on positions. With the pool of women in the industry already being as slim as it is, it's almost impossible to make sure every construction job is diverse when it comes to gender.
On average, women make around 99% of what men make in construction.
The pay gap between male construction workers and female construction workers is very small compared to other industries.
There are a few theories as to why a gender pay gap is not a problem in the construction industry. The first is that the industry desperately needs workers so companies are offering everyone top notch pay.
The second is that there are so few women in the industry that a difference in wages would likely be very noticeable. The third is that women simply aren't settling for less.
Most construction workers are white.
While the demographics of the construction industry are interesting, they're not surprising.
The Hispanic population has grown significantly over the past couple of decades and now they are the second most populous race in the country.
African-Americans are the third most populous race in the United States. The percentages below reflect the demographics of the population.
Breakdown of Construction Workers by Race:
- White: 58.7%
- Hispanic/Latin American: 24.5%
- Black/African American: 10.7%
As of 2021, the U.S. state with the most construction jobs is California.
This means that California also has the most construction workers (and are in desperate need of more).
This state also has the highest construction revenue of any other state. Texas comes in second and Florida comes in third. These are the three most populous states in the U.S. which could be why they have the most construction jobs.
Over 60% of the total construction revenue is spread across only ten states. These states are the three mentioned above, plus Washington, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina, and New York.
Vermont has the least amount of revenue from the construction industry. New Hampshire comes in next to least.
The highest paying states in the construction industry are Hawaii with an average of $35.08 per hour, Illinois with an average of $33.86 per hour, and Massachusetts with an average of $32.65 per hour.
In 2020, $9.15 billion was spent on building new public housing.
Public housing has always been a good source of projects for construction companies.
As the pandemic took its' toll on Americans, some people found themselves moving into public housing. This migration into public housing increased the demand and triggered strong growth in the residential construction sector.
Chapter 3: Great Britain Construction Industry Statistics
Great Britain's construction industry was slowly progressing until the pandemic hit.
Labor shortages and increased pricing for materials stalled the industry's progress which means they lost money, but they are making a comeback.
As more attention is given to the industry by the government, it's making it's way back to being progressively successful.
Construction revenues in Great Britain reached a record high of £119,087 million ($161.42 billion) in 2019.
Unfortunately, revenues dropped by a whopping 16.3% in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Despite the drop in revenue in 2020, the number of Value Added Tax (VAT)/Pay As You Earn (PAYE) construction firms increased by 2 percent.
At the end of 2020, there were 342,456 registered construction companies in Great Britain.
Over the last few years, the overall number of employees in the construction industry held relatively steady. However, the number of self-employed construction workers decreased.
When separating the construction industry into sectors, new private housing and new private commercial structures contributed over 75% of the total construction revenue in 2020.
The private infrastructure sector revenue increased by £1,571 million ($2.13 billion).
Private infrastructure was the only sector that grew. In fact, this sector saw its highest historical revenue.
Around 51% of construction companies in the U.K. participate in green construction projects.
Chapter 4: China Construction Industry Statistics
China has been the world leader in the construction industry for a long time, but the pandemic toll on the Chinese economy. Despite this, China is bouncing back and keeping it's position in the construction industry. Check out the statistics below.
In 2020, Chinese construction companies saw a profit of ¥818.7 billion ($129.16 billion).
The Chinese construction industry (and almost all Chinese industries) were among the hardest hit industries during the pandemic. However, they finally opened back up and have been doing great job of getting back to their former glory.
As China bounced back from the pandemic, new construction contracts were put into play in 2021.
These contracts valued over ¥32.5 trillion ($5.13 trillion). This is what helped to jumpstart their construction industry after the shut downs.
The average value of construction equipment in China is over ¥525 billion ($82.82 billion).
This is an extremely high number compared to other areas in the world. However, it's not surprising since China happens to be the top manufacturer of construction equipment.
By the end of 2020, there were 53.67 million people employed in the construction industry in China.
Over 14% of construction workers in China are women.
China has the largest share of women working in the construction industry in the world.
Chapter 5: Germany Construction Industry Statistics
Germany might not have the largest construction industry revenue in the world, but it's safe to say that their industry is stable.
This industry benefits from the fact that the German government has been making progressive investments over time and focusing on modernizing their industry rather than ignoring the investments until some future date.
- In 2020, Germany saw an annual revenue of €143 billion ($162.27 billion) from the construction industry.
- Over 2.5 million people in Germany were employed in the construction industry in 2020.
- Around 13% of the construction workforce in Germany is female.
- Only about 9.4% of German women work in main construction trades. Most of them are in management or office positions, or work in a construction-related trade such as architecture.
- The average construction worker salary in Germany is €39,830 ($45,197). This is a little lower than the top companies but the cost of living is also lower in Germany.
- Around 82% of German construction workers have no higher than a high school diploma. This is a higher percentage than the overall number of people globally with this dilemma.
Chapter 6: U.S. Construction Industry Employment Statistics
The employment outlook for the construction industry is good. Salaries are higher than ever and people are landing their dream positions. In this section you'll learn about how many general contractors are in the U.S, as well as the number of contractors working in the U.S.
However, there is a labor shortage in the United States that seems to be hard to fill. In fact, there is a labor shortage all around the world. Here are some statistics for you to know:
According to the BLS, there were 7.56 million people employed in the construction industry in the USA at the end of 2021.
That's 2.28% of the population. While that may not seem like a lot, consider the fact that there are twenty industries included in the NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) that are covered by the census.
There are twelve industries that are not covered by the census. When you consider the number of industries there are, it's easy to see that 2.28% is a high number in this case.
Out of the American citizens employed in the construction industry, 2 million of them are in supervisory positions.
The unemployment rate in the construction industry as of the end of 2021 was 5%.
That's high considering that the national average unemployment rate at the same time was only 3.9 percent. It's also confusing since the industry has more vacant positions than workers.
There were over 827,000 general contractors in the construction industry at the end of 2020.
There were 593,530 people employed as carpenters in 2020.
In 2020, construction laborers made the lowest salary, with an average of $43,520.
The group with the highest salary in 2020 was construction managers with an average salary of $106,120.
In 2020, there were 1,034 work-related fatalities in the construction industry.
This is an extremely high rate when you consider the fact that higher-risk jobs had less deaths. Only 29 law enforcement officers and 24 firefighters died from work-related causes in 2020.
Construction employees in the United States have access to great benefits.
It's very rare to find an industry that provides such a high percentage of employees with these types of benefits. Here are a few statistics related to these benefits:
Around 75% of construction workers had employer-sponsored healthcare in 2020.
This is impressive since the national average of people receiving group health insurance is only 49 percent. Of course, California is the state with highest rate of group coverage for construction workers.
Around 76% of construction workers had paid vacations.
The national rate of jobs offering paid vacations is on the low end making this percentage surprising.
A little over 62% of construction workers had paid sick leave.
Many people don't use all of their vacation and paid sick leave hours.
Chapter 7: Infrastructure Construction Industry Statistics
The infrastructure sector of the construction industry is highly unique from the other sectors. These projects are usually massive projects that require a lot of resources and cooperation.
This cooperation quite often comes from the country's government. An example of a massive infrastructure project would be the Hoover dam.
These projects aren't always buildings or physical structures - this sector includes telecommunications, waste and water management, power generation, roads, highways, mass transit, and more. It's basically the things that make a city run well.
Companies that deal with the construction of infrastructure rarely tackle these huge projects alone.
Usually there will be a central company, the head or the "face" of the project. This company will contract with other specialized companies to make the project happen.
Infrastructure projects are usually some type of public property or good and require public and private organizations to work together.
These massive projects are often inconceivably large and expensive, so they require government sponsorship in order to make it happen. In rare cases, a fully private infrastructure project can occur, but the private company takes on all the risk in these situations.
In 2019, the value of Singapore's infrastructure was $95.2 billion.
Singapore has the best infrastructure in the world. They are currently working on the world's first high-speed rail system, more popularly known as a bullet train.
On a scale of 0 to 100, ranking the quality of a 100 countries' infrastructures, Singapore was ranked best and Bolivia came in at the lowest.
Listed below are a few of these rankings from the more popular countries. There are some that really need serious attention.
- Singapore: 95.4
- United Kingdom: 88.9
- United States: 87.9
- Australia: 79.2
- Russia: 73.8
- Mexico: 72.4
- India: 68.1
- Jamaica: 62.5
- Paraguay: 59.8
- Bolivia: 57.1
The United States ranks 39th in the global list of infrastructure investing.
At one time, the American infrastructure was a model to pay attention to. However, over the decades, the American infrastructure fell to the back burner as other American problems were given priority.
In November of 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, worth $1 trillion, into law.
The United States' infrastructure is far behind when compared to other countries, so this act didn't come a moment too soon. Over half will be used to improve highways, roads, bridges, and transit systems. The rest would be used to build jobs in the infrastructure sector among other things.
Europe's largest construction project, the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link, will be the world's longest underwater tunnel in history.
This tunnel will connect Germany and Denmark and has a budget of over £7 million ($9.49 million). It is a road and rail tunnel combined in one and will also have walkways at certain points.
Chapter 8: Statistics About the Top Construction Companies
Engineering News-Record comes out with a list of the top 250 construction companies in the world each year.
Globally:
ACS (Actividades de Construcción y Servicios) S.A. had an annual revenue of €34.94 billion ($39.26 billion) in 2020.
This is down by 10.5% from their annual revenue in 2019. Although they are one of the most profitable construction companies in the world, they had a tough year in 2020. Their profit was almost half of what it was the previous year and shares tumbled by almost 38 percent.
ACS brings in the most revenue of any construction company in the world and have been the top earning company for years. The company is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.
Hochtief Aktiengesellschaft had an annual revenue of €22.95 billion in 2020.
This is down 11.2% from their annual revenue in 2019. However, despite being down in revenue, they more than tripled their profit. In 2019, they lost money, but in 2020 their profit was around $582 million.
They ranked second in the list of most profitable in the world and has also held this position for many years. The company headquarters is in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
VINCI had an annual revenue of €43.93 billion in 2020.
Like the first two companies, this is a decrease from the 2019 annual revenue by about 10 percent. Their share price dropped more than 50% of the 2019 share price. While the company was hit hard by the pandemic, they managed to reduce some of the company's debt.
VINCI ranked third in 2020, up one position in the list from 2019. The company is headquartered in Rueil Malmaison, France.
China Communications Construction Group Ltd. had an annual revenue of $98.8 billion in 2020.
Unlike the previous three companies, this is an increase of 12.9% from their 2019 annual revenue. Despite the significant increase in revenue, their profit only increased by 0.8 percent.
China Communications Construction Group Ltd. came in fourth on the list. They were bumped down from the number three spot by the previous company. The company is headquartered in Beijing, China.
Bouygues has an annual revenue of €12.7 billion in 2020.
This is another company that had gains - around €0.4 billion more than in 2019. However, despite the gain in revenue, they only had a profit of €171 million. This is less than half the profit they made in 2019.
Bouygues is the fifth ranking company in the list, up one position from 2019. The company is headquartered in Paris, France.
United States:
The Turner Corp. had an annual revenue of $14.41 billion in 2021.
Ironically, they had the same revenue in 2020. The CEO admitted that they essentially "got lucky" to have remained in business due to the pandemic.
It was their collaboration with trade partners and clients to adopt a quick and decisive way of operations that kept workers safe while still keeping job sites running.
In 2020, The Turner Corp. ranked number two on the list of the largest U.S. construction companies. They were bumped to number one in 2021 only because the top company lost revenue. The Turner Corp. is headquartered in New York, NY.
Bechtel brought in an annual revenue of $12.2 billion in 2021.
This was down by 30.5% from the previous year. They took a big financial hit from the pandemic - more than most companies. However, they did an excellent job at securing new contracts in 2021 despite the revenue decline.
Bechtel was the top construction company in the U.S. in 2020. However, they dropped down to the second position in 2021 due to the significant revenue loss.
The good news is that CEO stated that the company had no outstanding debt. Bechtel is headquartered in Reston, VA.
Fluor brought in an annual revenue of $11.67 billion in 2021.
This is down 17.81% from 2020. Fluor really struggled during the pandemic. Compared to other companies in the list their numbers are slightly skewed due to the fact that they sold a very large division of their company to One Equity Partners for $73 million in 2021.
Fluor holds the third position in the list for 2021. However, they didn't have a great year compared to what they usually make. The company is headquartered in Irving, TX.
Kiewit Corp. had an annual revenue of $11.2 billion in 2021.
This is down by 10.4% from the previous year. While this amount is a loss, it's less of a loss than the other companies on the list, meaning that Kiewit navigated the pandemic slightly better than other companies.
Kiewit in the fourth position on the 2021 list. They moved up one spot from the previous year, but it's because the next company had a loss rather than Kiewit having a gain. The company is headquartered in Omaha, NE.
The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. made $8.72 billion in revenue in 2021.
This is down slightly, 5.21%, from their annual revenue in 2020. While their losses are minimal compared to the losses of the other companies by percentage, it's still quite a hit for Whiting-Turner since their revenue hasn't topped the other companies yet.
The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. is in the number five spot, down from number four in 2020. The company is headquartered in Baltimore, MD.
Chapter 9: Interesting Facts About Construction
There are a lot of facts you likely never knew about the construction industry. Many of them are very interesting and probably a little surprising. The facts below will peak your interest.
- Significant shortages in lumber across the United States are having a major impact on the construction industry. Lumber prices have risen by almost 13%, leading to widely varying prices on lumber in different areas of the country.
- Concrete is the most popular building material in the world. In 2020, the global annual revenue of the cement and concrete industry was $617.26 billion.
- The expected CAGR of the concrete industry is 4.7% over the next decade.
- Younger generations have been losing interest in entering the construction trade (as well as many other trades). Therefore, the average age of a construction worker is 42 years old.
- The use of drones at construction sites has increased dramatically over the past decade. In 2018, the use of drones at construction sites went up over 230%.
- Excavators are the most widely used machine on construction sites. These machines are primarily used to dig and move large or massive amounts of debris. Their long arms can use many different attachments so they are versatile in function.
- Excavators come in different sizes and the size affects the cost, but an excavator usually runs somewhere between $100,000 to $500,000.
Sources
- https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/market-research-reports/construction-sector/
- https://www.statista.com/topics/974/construction/
- https://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag23.htm
- https://www.envisioncpd.com/construction-statistics/
Conclusion
Those were some great statistics and facts on the construction industry. If you have questions that weren't answered above, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]. You may also be interested in checking out some roofing statistics.
