A bright future for British construction was predicted in a recent report, which forecast that the sector will grow by some 2.9% annually over the next 15 years. This is a significant improvement on the sector’s long term track record of growth of around 2.2%.

As a result, according to the Global Construction 2030 report, the UK will overtake Germany to become Europe’s largest construction market by 2025. This will see Britain become the sixth biggest construction market in the world.

The report also forecast spectacular growth for the global construction market, which it says will almost double between now and 2030 to $15.5 trillion. In 15 years the largest construction economy will be China, followed by the US and then India, Indonesia and Japan. The top three will be by far the largest construction economies, collectively accounting for 57% of global growth over the period.

China’s growth is nonetheless expected to slow considerably, with the country even expected to see contraction in its housing market, which will be the first ever recorded. Meanwhile, India’s construction market will grow nearly twice as fast as that of China. The report’s publishers Global Construction Perspectives and Oxford Economics said in a press release that India would become: “A new engine of global growth in emerging markets.”

Closer to home, we are interested in the detail. New nuclear and infrastructure are key bases for these findings but they are initiatives on a very large scale, some way removed from most businesses in the sector. Nevertheless, this is a positive message especially if it means greater investment in developing a workforce with the skills the sector needs.