China to lead growth in construction spending in Asia

China and Indonesia will experience the strongest growth in construction spending over the near and medium term, a survey on the outlook for the construction industry in Asia shows.

The survey, conducted in January among 68 industry participants from nine countries, showed the respondents remained convinced Asia is one of the world's leading construction markets.

Construction spending in China reached almost US$1.8 trillion last year, making it the largest market in the world and more than US$1 trillion larger than the markets in the US and Japan.

China was followed in the region by Japan, India, Indonesia and South Korea. Indonesia overtook South Korea as the fourth-largest construction market in Asia last year.

Construction spending in Asia accounted for 44 per cent of total global construction spending last year, an increase of 4 per cent from 2012.

Respondents forecast construction spending to grow at 7.3 per cent per year in China over the next five years, followed by India (7 per cent), Vietnam (6.8 per cent) and Indonesia (5.2 per cent).

Taking a long-term view, 92 per cent of the respondents said that over the next 10 years, the prospects for the size and growth of the Asian construction market are positive.

Indonesia scored particularly well in terms of market growth prospects over the next three years, followed by China, the survey showed.

China is the top-rated country in terms of perceived profitability, followed by Indonesia and Malaysia.

However, respondents have become more pessimistic regarding prospects for growth and profitability in India over the medium term.

Respondents were slightly less optimistic about the near-term future for the region, over the next 12 months, compared with the results from the first survey in August last year.

Among sub-sectors of the construction industry in Asia, the infrastructure sector is expected to grow the fastest, be the most profitable and most open to foreign suppliers over the near term, although the relative position of the residential sector has improved.

The Asia Construction Outlook survey was conducted by Aecom, a global provider of professional technical and management support services, and Davis Langdon KPK (a unit of Aecom).