South Korea Ranked 5th in Overseas Construction Sales Last Year... Hyundai and Samsung Make Strides

Sales of $22.7 Billion and 5.7% Market Share
Maintains 1st Place with 28.4% Market Share in China

[Asia Economy Reporter Noh Kyung-jo] Last year, the overseas sales of the world's top 250 construction companies fell below $400 billion for the first time in 11 years. Amid this, South Korea actually increased its market share, maintaining its position as the 5th largest country globally. Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Samsung Engineering, and Samsung C&T ranked within the top 40 for the third consecutive year.

According to the Overseas Construction Association on the 3rd, South Korea recorded $22.73 billion in overseas construction sales last year, accounting for a 5.7% market share, according to ENR, a U.S.-based construction and engineering industry magazine that publishes annual overseas construction sales results.

Both sales ($21.42 billion) and market share (5.1%) increased compared to the previous year. South Korea first ranked 5th in 2014, stayed 6th for three years from 2017, and returned to 5th place in 2020.

In the Middle East, the market share was 13.6%, up 0.5 percentage points from 13.1% the previous year, maintaining 2nd place behind China (40.0%). In Asia, the market share also rose by 0.6 percentage points from 9.3% to 9.9%, climbing one rank to 3rd place. Sales market shares in Africa and Latin America were ranked 7th (1.7%) and 6th (6.0%), respectively.

A total of 12 domestic construction companies were included among the top 250 companies. The highest-ranked company was Hyundai Engineering & Construction (13th), which rose three places from 16th last year. Samsung Engineering jumped from 30th to 22nd, and Samsung C&T rose from 34th to 31st.

The global number one by country was China, with sales of $112.95 billion and a market share of 28.4%. This was an increase of 2.8 percentage points from the previous year ($107.46 billion, 25.6%).

However, the overseas construction sales of the top 250 companies totaled $397.805 billion, a 5.3% decrease from 2020 ($420.32 billion). This is likely due to the lingering effects of COVID-19. Notably, falling below $400 billion occurred for the first time in 11 years since 2010 ($383.7 billion).

Nonetheless, ENR evaluated that "the median overseas sales of the top 250 companies increased by 5.89% compared to 2020, and among the 236 companies that reported overseas sales for two consecutive years, 62.3% saw an increase in sales scale," indicating that "the market showed a gradual recovery."