Global Top 5 'K-Construction'... Most Contracted Region is the Middle East

President Moon Jae-in, who was on a tour of three Middle Eastern countries, expressed his impressions in front of an electric vehicle supplied by Hyundai Rotem at the El Salem vehicle base in Cairo, Egypt, on the 21st of last month (local time).

Thanks to the continuous efforts of domestic construction companies to discover overseas projects, the cumulative amount of overseas construction orders has surpassed 900 billion dollars, re-entering the ranks of the world's top five construction powers.

According to the Overseas Construction Association on the 1st, the cumulative amount of overseas construction orders by Korean construction companies exceeded 900 billion dollars as of the 25th. It has been 57 years since Korean construction first entered overseas markets, starting with the Thailand road construction project in 1965.

Despite COVID-19, Korean construction companies steadily secured projects and showed continuous growth. As a result, in the announcement by ENR (Engineering News Record) last August, Korea rose again to become one of the world's top five overseas construction powers.

2020 Overseas Construction Market Sales Ranking by Country (Based on ENR)

Korea's ranking has fluctuated as follows: 9th (2009) → 7th (2010?2011) → 6th (2012?2013) → 5th (2014?2016) → 6th (2017?2019) → 5th (2020).

Looking at the cumulative order amounts by country, achievements in the Middle East stand out.

By region, the Middle East recorded 461.9 billion dollars (51.2%), Asia 296.7 billion dollars (32.9%), and Latin America 48.1 billion dollars (5.3%).

By country, Saudi Arabia ranks first with 152.679 billion dollars, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) second with 82.979 billion dollars, and Kuwait third with 48.84 billion dollars.

Following are Singapore (46.259 billion dollars), Vietnam (45.362 billion dollars), Iraq (41.241 billion dollars), Libya (36.787 billion dollars), Qatar (26.953 billion dollars), Indonesia (24.287 billion dollars), and Malaysia (22.979 billion dollars).

Order Backlog Rankings by Country

By construction type, industrial facilities recorded 518.8 billion dollars (57.5%), civil engineering 170.7 billion dollars (18.9%), and architecture 168.4 billion dollars (18.7%).

K-Construction has also established itself as one of Korea's key export products.

Last year, overseas construction orders amounted to 30.62 billion dollars, surpassing ship exports (23 billion dollars), one of the main export products, ranking fourth after semiconductors, automobiles, and petroleum products.

The overseas construction contract amount accounted for about 2.1% each of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Income (GNI) as of 2020.