South Korea Construction Market Size, Trends, and Forecasts by Sector - Commercial, Industrial, Infrastructure, Energy and Utilities, Institutional and Residential Market Analysis to 2029 (Q1 2025)
Summary
GlobalData expects the South Korean construction industry to shrink by 3.4% in real terms in 2025, owing to a sluggish housing market, rising household debt, falling building permits, lower civil engineering activities, and ongoing political uncertainty in the country, coupled with volatile exchange rates, higher interest rates, and rising construction material prices. According to the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS), the total number of permits issued for construction fell by 11.6% year on year (YoY) in 2024, preceded by an annual decline of 25.3% in 2023. Moreover, the annual total value of construction orders received for civil engineering works fell by 1.9% YoY in 2024, preceded by an annual growth of 22.7% in 2023. These factors have weighed heavily on the construction industry and created an unfavorable business climate resulting in cancellations and delays of projects. According to the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), 25 public housing projects were canceled in 2024 with a total value of KRW2.7 trillion ($2.1 billion), compared to the cancellation of only five such projects valued at KRW374.9 billion ($286.9 million) in 2023.
Over the remainder of the forecast period, the South Korean construction industry is expected to register an annual average growth rate of 2.7% from 2026 to 2029, supported by investments in the renewable energy, transport, housing, and commercial sectors, coupled with the government’s target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The government aims to increase the share of renewable energy in the total electricity mix from 9.2% in March 2024 to 21.6% by 2030 and 32.9% by 2038. The country intends to reach its goal by constructing 30GW of solar power capacity by 2030 and 14.3GW of offshore wind power capacity within the same timeframe. In line with this, in December 2024, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) awarded 1.9GW of renewable energy projects
GlobalData’s Construction in South Korea - Key Trends and Opportunities to 2029 (Q1 2025) report provides detailed market analysis, information and insights into the South Korean construction industry, including -
- The South Korean construction industry's growth prospects by market, project type and construction activity
- Critical insight into the impact of industry trends and issues, as well as an analysis of key risks and opportunities in the South Korean construction industry
- Analysis of the mega-project pipeline, focusing on development stages and participants, in addition to listings of major projects in the pipeline
This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the construction industry in South Korea. It provides -
- Historical (2020-2024) and forecast (2025-2029) valuations of the construction industry in South Korea, featuring details of key growth drivers.
- Segmentation by sector (commercial, industrial, infrastructure, energy and utilities, institutional and residential) and by sub-sector
- Analysis of the mega-project pipeline, including breakdowns by development stage across all sectors, and projected spending on projects in the existing pipeline.
- Listings of major projects, in addition to details of leading contractors and consultants
- Identify and evaluate market opportunities using our standardized valuation and forecasting methodologies
- Assess market growth potential at a micro-level with over 600 time-series data forecasts
- Understand the latest industry and market trends
- Formulate and validate business strategies using GlobalData's critical and actionable insight
- Assess business risks, including cost, regulatory and competitive pressures
- Evaluate competitive risk and success factors
- 1 Executive Summary
- 2 Construction Industry: At-a-Glance
- 3 Context
- 3.1 Economic Performance
- 3.2 Political Environment and Policy
- 3.3 Demographics
- 3.4 Risk Profile
- 4 Construction Outlook
- 4.1 All Construction
- Outlook
- Latest news and developments
- Construction Projects Momentum Index
- 4.2 Commercial Construction
- Outlook
- Project analytics
- Latest news and developments
- 4.3 Industrial Construction
- Outlook
- Project analytics
- Latest news and developments
- 4.4 Infrastructure Construction
- Outlook
- Project analytics
- Latest news and developments
- 4.5 Energy and Utilities Construction
- Outlook
- Project analytics
- Latest news and developments
- 4.6 Institutional Construction
- Outlook
- Project analytics
- Latest news and developments
- 4.7 Residential Construction
- Outlook
- Project analytics
- Latest news and developments
- 5 Key Industry Participants
- 5.1 Contractors
- 5.2 Consultants
- 6 Construction Market Data
- 7 Appendix
- 7.1 What is this Report About?
- 7.2 Definitions
- 7.3 CRI Methodology
- 8 About GlobalData
- 9 Contact Us
- List of Tables
- Table 1: Construction Industry Key Data
- Table 2: South Korea, Key Economic Indicators
- Table 3: South Korea, Commercial Construction Output by Project Type (Real % Change), 2020–29
- Table 4: South Korea, Top Commercial Construction Projects by Value
- Table 5: South Korea, Industrial Construction Output by Project Type (Real % Change), 2020–29
- Table 6: South Korea, Top Industrial Construction Projects by Value
- Table 7: South Korea, Infrastructure Construction Output by Project Type (Real % Change), 2020-29
- Table 8: South Korea, Top Infrastructure Construction Projects by Value
- Table 9: South Korea, Energy and Utilities Construction Output by Project Type (Real % Change), 2020-29
- Table 10: South Korea, Top Energy and Utilities Construction Projects by Value
- Table 11: South Korea, Institutional Construction Output by Project Type (Real % Change), 2020-29
- Table 12: South Korea, Top Institutional Construction Projects by Value
- Table 13: South Korea, Residential Construction Output by Project Type (Real % Change), 2020-29
- Table 14: South Korea, Top Residential Construction Projects by Value
- Table 15: South Korea, Key Contractors
- Table 16: South Korea, Key Consultants
- Table 17: South Korea, Construction Output Value (Real, $ Million)
- Table 18: South Korea, Construction Output Value (Nominal, KRW Billion)
- Table 19: GlobalData Construction Market Definitions
- Table 20: Risk Dimensions
- Table 21: Ratings, Scores and Definitions
- List of Figures
- Figure 1: North-East Asia, Construction Output (Real % Change), 2023–29
- Figure 2: South Korea, Construction Output by Sector (Real % Change), 2023–25 and 2026–29
- Figure 3: South Korea, Risk Summary
- Figure 4: South Korea, Risk Regional Comparison
- Figure 5: South Korea, Construction Output Value (Real, $ Million, 2022 Prices and Exchange Rate), 2020–29
- Figure 6: South Korea, Construction Output Value, by Sector (Real, $ Million), 2020–29
- Figure 7: South Korea, Construction Value-Add (KRW Trillion, 2020 Chained Prices, Unadjusted)
- Figure 8: South Korea, Construction Production Index (2020=100)
- Figure 9: South Korea, Total Value of Construction Completed, Constant Prices, KRW Billion, % Change, YoY
- Figure 10: South Korea, Total Value of Construction Orders Received (Current Prices, KRW Billion)
- Figure 11: South Korea, Total Number of Building Construction Permits
- Figure 12: South Korea, Construction Business Survey Index
- Figure 13: South Korea, Construction Projects Momentum Index
- Figure 14: North-East Asia, Construction Projects Momentum Index
- Figure 15: South Korea, Commercial Construction Output by Project Type (Real, $ Million), 2020–29
- Figure 16: South Korea, Commercial Construction Projects Pipeline, Value by Stage ($ Million)
- Figure 17: South Korea, Gross Floor Area of Commercial Construction Permits, In Thousand m2
- Figure 18: South Korea, Retail Sales Value and Volume Index, (2020=100)
- Figure 19: South Korea, Industrial Construction Output by Project Type (Real, $ Million), 2020–29
- Figure 20: South Korea, Industrial Construction Projects Pipeline, Value by Stage ($ Million)
- Figure 21: South Korea, Gross Floor Area of Industrial Construction Permits, In Thousand m2
- Figure 22: South Korea, Manufacturing Value-Add (KRW Billion, 2020 Chained Prices, Unadjusted)
- Figure 23: South Korea, Industrial Production Index (2020=100)
- Figure 24: South Korea, Total Export Value ($ Billion)
- Figure 25: South Korea, Total Value of Construction Contracts Received for Industrial Plants, (KRW Billion), In Current Prices
- Figure 26: South Korea, Infrastructure Construction Output by Project Type (Real, $ Million), 2020-29
- Figure 27: South Korea, Infrastructure Construction Projects Pipeline, Value by Stage ($ Million)
- Figure 28: South Korea, Energy and Utilities Construction Output by Project Type (Real, $ Million), 2020-29
- Figure 29: South Korea, Energy and Utilities Construction Projects Pipeline, Value by Stage ($ Million)
- Figure 30: South Korea, Institutional Construction Output by Project Type (Real, $ Million), 2020-29
- Figure 31: South Korea, Institutional Construction Projects Pipeline, Value by Stage ($ Million)
- Figure 32: South Korea, Gross Floor Area of Permits Issued for Educational and Social Use, In Thousand m2
- Figure 33: South Korea, Education Sector Value-Add (KRW Billion, 2020 Chained Prices, Unadjusted)
- Figure 34: South Korea, Human Health and Social Work Activities Value-Add (KRW Billion, 2020 Chained Prices, Unadjusted)
- Figure 35: South Korea, Residential Construction Output by Project Type (Real, $ Million), 2020-29
- Figure 36: South Korea, Residential Construction Projects Pipeline, Value by Stage ($ Million)
- Figure 37: South Korea, Residential Construction Permits (Total Number)
- Figure 38: South Korea, Real Estate Value-Add (KRW Trillion, 2020 Chained Prices)
- Figure 39: South Korea, Headquarters of Key Contractors (% of Total Project Pipeline)
- Figure 40: South Korea, Headquarters of Key Consultants (% of Total Project Pipeline)
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