Last year, the construction industry's contract amount exceeded 300 trillion won again. However, actual construction execution significantly slowed down, recording the lowest level in the past four years.
According to the '2024 Construction Industry Survey (provisional) construction performance' released by the Statistics Korea on the 22nd, the construction contract amount last year was 307 trillion won, an increase of 3.4% compared to the previous year. Although the contract amount had dropped to 298 trillion won in 2023 and rebounded in one year, it still falls short of the levels in 2021 (315 trillion won) and 2022 (338 trillion won).
The domestic contract amount was 267 trillion won, a 3.4% increase. The metropolitan area led the overall increase with 131 trillion won, a rise of 17.7%, while the provinces saw a contrasting trend with 136 trillion won, a decrease of 7.4%.
The overseas contract amount increased to 41 trillion won, a rise of 2.9%. Contracts in the construction (9.5%) and civil engineering (13%) sectors increased, while industrial facilities (-35.1%) and landscaping (-15.5%) declined. The increase in contracts for buildings such as apartments and warehouses, as well as land development and road construction, drove the growth.
By client type, contracts in the public sector totaled 87 trillion won (8%), while contracts in the private sector amounted to 179 trillion won (1.4%).
During the same period, the construction performance amounted to 364 trillion won, an increase of 1.4% compared to the previous year. Compared to growth rates of 6.5% in 2021, 11.5% in 2022, and 4.7% in 2023, the increase margin has significantly decreased. This is the lowest growth rate since 2020 (-1.7%).
The domestic construction performance was 316 trillion won, a decrease of 0.8%. Notably, the metropolitan area saw a 2.7% decrease with 151 trillion won. In contrast, non-metropolitan areas increased by 1.0% to 165 trillion won. The overseas construction performance surged to 48 trillion won, reflecting a dramatic increase of 18.3%. Active orders continued in the Americas (40.3%) and the Middle East (31.9%).
Examining the construction performance by client type, the public sector saw an increase of 7.2% with 90 trillion won, while the private sector experienced a decrease of 3.6% with 226 trillion won.