Australia Construction Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Construction is the third-largest industry in Australia for the number of people it employs and its share in the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the country.

In 2019, over 1.15 million were employed in the construction sector which is almost 9% of all the jobs in the country

The Australian Construction industry generates over $360 billion in revenue, producing around 9% of Australia’s Gross Domestic Product. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 8% during the forecast period. However, the overall performance of the construction is expected to rather flat, but there will be considerable contributions within the different sectors. The value of the construction activity in Australia in the FY 2019 stood at AUD 212.85 billion of which the total value of private-sector construction work done across Australia amounted to approximately AUD 109.7 billion. This was a decrease from the peak reached in 2018, which was AUD 113.11 billion. Whereas, the public sector construction work done across Australia in 2019 amounted to approximately AUD 13.9 billion.

The value of the private sector construction was significantly higher than the value of public sector construction. Combined, these sectors cover engineering construction work, non-residential building, and residential building. Engineering construction work, which encompasses infrastructure, was the most predominant of the three.

Key Market Trends

Increase in Non-Residential and Infrastructure Construction

Commercial building has been one of the strong contributing factors to the construction sector of Australia over the last couple of years and has recently reached new highs in terms of volume. In 2019, the total value of non-residential construction building work done across both public and private sectors amounted to AUD 47.6 billion, the highest in the last decade. The value of commercial building activity in the year 2019 amounted to AUD 45.6 billion as compared to AUD 42.34 billion in 2018. The volume of the commercial building activity in the year 2018 increased to 11.4 % of the value in 2017, and in the year 2019, to a value of 7.7 % as compared to 2018. With the government-led projects in the energy sector and transportation ramping up, the construction industry is optimistic to see the growth rate during the forecast period.

Employment Rate and Population Growth Propelling the Growth in Construction Sector

The construction industry is expected to grow over the forecast period (2020-2025). Population and employment rates are fundamental factors in the construction industry. One of the most distinctive features of the Australian market is how both these factors move in tandem. Many of the factors that propelled new home building to such high levels are still in place. The population growth rate in Australia has been almost constant at around 1.4% to 1.7% over the study period. During the year 2018, the population growth in Australia stood at 1.57 %, increasing from 24.78 million to 25.17 million. With the increase in population, the need for better transportation facilities, housing facilities, energy resources rises, increasing the constructions in residential, commercial, and civil constructions. Of the gain in population, a huge percentage was accounted for by overseas migration. This is an important feature because migrants tend to be concentrated in the 20-40 age group, a factor that has a strong and immediate impact on housing demand. The employment numbers also describe a great deal about the performance of the construction industry. With more people being employed, the need for better social life increases, also ramping up the constructions in non-residential space.

Competitive Landscape

The report covers the major players operating in the Australia Construction Market. The Australian market is highly competitive with a few players occupying the major share. In terms of private companies, Lendlease group and CIMIC group can be named as the two of the biggest names in Australia’s construction industry. Major players in the market are moving towards innovation and digitalization. Explore, a new global technology company of the CIMIC group is jointly undertaking a series of research projects partnering with MIT and IBM, which is contributing to the research and development in artificial and augmented intelligence related to the construction industry. The market is fragmented, and the market is expected to grow during the forecast period due to the increase in the construction investments and up-coming major projects in the country and other few factors are driving the market.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support