Trends in world building

According to the study realized by Francesco Doria, head of Mapei Research Department (published in Realtà Mapei no. 140), in 2016 global construction investments reached a value of around 8 trillion euros, an increase of just over 2%. This means that the global construction market grew at a slower pace last year than the world economy, estimated by the International Monetary Fund to have expanded by 3.1%.

The region home to the world’s largest construction market is Far East & Oceania with estimated investments of 3,750 billion euros and a 47% share of global construction. It is followed by North America with a value of the construction market estimated at almost 1.6 trillion euros, 20% of the world total. Western Europe is the world’s third largest building market with an estimated value of 1,375 billion euros and a 17% share of global investments.

Far behind are all the other geographical areas. Latin America represents just 5% of total world construction output, followed by Eastern Europe (4.5%), Persian Gulf Countries (3.3%) and Africa and Other Middle Eastern Countries (3.2%).

• A detailed analysis of the trends in each area and the forecasts for the year 2017 are described in the article published in Ceramic World Review 121/2017