COMMENT CAN’T KEEP A GOOD INDUSTRY DOWN

EDITOR Andy Brown andy.brown@khl.com +44 (0)1892 786224

We all work in construction and so can perhaps sometimes become a bit blasé about just how big an industry it is. Depending on which global economic group or forum is your preference, construction makes up between 13-14% of the whole world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to Oxford Economics, construction work will increase from US$9.7 trillion in 2022 to $13.9 trillion in 2037 – that’s a rise of $4.2 trillion.

In this latest version of the Global Construction Guide (GCG) – which started in 2020 – we once again take a snapshot view of the biggest segments that make up construction: access equipment, the rental industry, cranes, and demolition and recycling. For ease we have edited down the listings to provide a look at the top players in all of these segments – for example, whereas the original listing of the world’s biggest rental companies contained 100 firms, we have narrowed it down to the top 25.

That’s as well, of course, as focusing on construction itself through our OEM and contractor lists. This year we have also added something new, two lists that estimate the research and development spending of the world’s biggest OEMs and contractors. It was first published on our constructionbriefing.comwebsite and makes for fascinating reading. An underlying theme throughout the lists has been of construction companies having to manage challenging market conditions including a lack of workers, rising materials prices, increased pressure to become more sustainable, and more. A theme just as strong has been these companies rising to the challenge and seeing their sales increase – this can be found throughout these lists, regardless of the sector that they cover, and they point to an industry that is in surprisingly good health.