According to a report published Friday by Global Construction Perspectives and Oxford Economics, spending on US construction is predicted to grow by an annual average of +5.9 percent over the next decade to 2020, outpacing growth in GDP.
Already, despite weaker than expected annual growth of +1.3 percent in GDP during the second quarter of 2011, private sector investment in US construction rose by an annual rate of +8.1 percent for non-residential and +3.8 percent for residential construction, reversing declines in Q1.
"Construction in the US is expected to rebound from the downturn led by short-term double digit growth in both residential and non residential markets," said Graham Robinson, Director, Global Construction Perspectives and an author of the Global Construction 2020 report.
Global Construction Perspectives and Oxford Economics estimate $14.5 trillion will be spent on US construction in 2010 prices over the next decade to 2020. Global spending on construction is also forecast to outpace world GDP over the next 10 years as growth in Asian powerhouses, and a cyclical rebound in the US will fuel growth in construction from $7.2 trillion today to $12 trillion by 2020, according to estimates.
"China overtook the US in 2010 as the world's largest construction market, but the US will still remain the world's second largest construction market in 2020," said Doug Godden, Senior Economist at Oxford Economics, driven by a cyclical rebound as well as a growing population.