Global construction spending is projected to reach $10.1 trillion this year. This scale is matched by significant operational challenges, as change orders added an estimated $2.7 billion in U.S. project costs in a recent year.
Key Takeaways
- $12.2 trillion global construction output in 2023 (construction gross output), reflecting near-term industry scale
- $10.1 trillion global construction spending in 2024 (projected), indicating expected spend trajectory for the industry
- $1.0 trillion construction spending in the United States in 2023 (total construction expenditure), highlighting U.S. building-industry magnitude
- $410 million global market size for construction analytics in 2023 (estimate), reflecting analytics adoption
- 22% of total U.S. construction firms reported using project management software in 2023 (survey), quantifying adoption and performance enablement
- 71% of respondents in a 2022 industry survey said they use schedule software for project planning (survey), quantifying planning tool adoption
- $1.6 billion projected annual value of global prefabrication market by 2030 (estimate), indicating modular/prefab adoption direction
- 70% of construction executives expect to increase spending on digital tools in 2024 (survey-based expectation), showing investment intent
- 33% reduction in rework costs reported by organizations after adopting BIM/4D workflows (survey-based average), indicating measurable productivity effects
- 12.3% increase in construction productivity in 2022 in the UK measured via construction industry productivity accounts (ONS-related), indicating productivity movement
- 20-30% cost savings reported in studies of early contractor involvement (ECI) in construction (range from RICS/CIOB guidance), quantifying cost performance
- 4.5% of U.S. construction contract value lost to safety incidents in a study (quantified safety cost share), linking safety to financial performance
- $91.1 billion total direct construction spend in the U.S. for 2022 (annual Census construction spending), used as a baseline for cost analysis
- $2.7 billion additional costs in U.S. projects from change orders in 2021 (industry estimate), quantifying cost instability from changes
- $9 billion annual economic burden from construction accidents in the U.S. (study estimate), quantifying safety-related cost
Construction is a massive, fast investing global industry as spending surges and digital, safety, and decarbonization pressures reshape projects.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size9 stats
01
$12.2 trillion global construction output in 2023 (construction gross output), reflecting near-term industry scale
02
$10.1 trillion global construction spending in 2024 (projected), indicating expected spend trajectory for the industry
03
$1.0 trillion construction spending in the United States in 2023 (total construction expenditure), highlighting U.S. building-industry magnitude
04
€1.9 trillion value added by construction in the EU27 in 2022 (latest Eurostat dataset), capturing European building-sector contribution
05
8.2% of U.S. GDP attributed to construction in 2023 (construction as percent of GDP), quantifying macroeconomic importance
06
$3.8 billion total venture capital investment in construction tech in 2022 (global, per Crunchbase analysis reported by PitchBook), indicating funding scale
07
$63.3 billion global construction equipment market size in 2023 (projected near-term), reflecting major builder spend on equipment
08
$8.9 billion global construction management software market size in 2023 (market size estimate), indicating spend on builder software
09
$24.6 billion global building materials market size in 2022 (estimate), relevant to builders’ procurement economics
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
Global construction is massive and still growing, with about $12.2 trillion in output in 2023 and a projected $10.1 trillion in spending in 2024, showing the market scale that makes builder industry investment and construction tech funding, like $3.8 billion in 2022, financially compelling.
02 · Category
User Adoption8 stats
01
$410 million global market size for construction analytics in 2023 (estimate), reflecting analytics adoption
02
22% of total U.S. construction firms reported using project management software in 2023 (survey), quantifying adoption and performance enablement
03
71% of respondents in a 2022 industry survey said they use schedule software for project planning (survey), quantifying planning tool adoption
04
52% of contractors use digital compliance workflows (permits/forms) to manage regulatory documentation (survey), quantifying compliance digitalization
05
30% of construction spend is expected to be managed through ERP by 2026 (forecast), quantifying enterprise-system adoption trajectory
06
19.8% global construction tech market CAGR to 2030 (forecast), quantifying category growth driving broader adoption
07
$5.4 billion global market size for construction management software in 2024 (estimate), reflecting enterprise adoption of construction software
08
$2.7 billion global market size for construction drones in 2023 (estimate), indicating field drone adoption market size
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
User adoption in construction is accelerating as firms move from basic tools to broader digital workflows, with 71% already using scheduling software for project planning in 2022 and the share of spend routed through ERP expected to reach 30% by 2026.
03 · Category
Industry Trends9 stats
01
$1.6 billion projected annual value of global prefabrication market by 2030 (estimate), indicating modular/prefab adoption direction
02
70% of construction executives expect to increase spending on digital tools in 2024 (survey-based expectation), showing investment intent
03
33% reduction in rework costs reported by organizations after adopting BIM/4D workflows (survey-based average), indicating measurable productivity effects
04
35% of UK construction firms reported adopting offsite construction approaches in 2023 (survey), indicating modularization adoption
05
52% of construction respondents said they plan to increase use of low-carbon materials in the next 12 months (survey), quantifying materials shift intent
06
$1.8 trillion estimated investment needed annually in building decarbonization to meet climate goals through 2050 (IEA estimate), quantifying decarb capital requirements
07
48% of construction firms reported facing labor shortages in 2023 (survey), demonstrating workforce constraints
08
2.9% of U.S. construction employment is accounted for by green jobs (BLS/related analysis in reports), indicating workforce transition pressure
09
$3.1 billion global market size for construction cybersecurity in 2023 (estimate), indicating adoption of security tooling
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry Trends in Builder are clearly moving toward more efficient and lower-carbon delivery, with major indicators like 70% of construction executives planning higher digital tool spending in 2024, 33% lower rework costs from BIM and 4D workflows, and 52% of respondents planning increased use of low-carbon materials in the next 12 months.
More related reading
04 · Category
Performance Metrics7 stats
01
12.3% increase in construction productivity in 2022 in the UK measured via construction industry productivity accounts (ONS-related), indicating productivity movement
02
20-30% cost savings reported in studies of early contractor involvement (ECI) in construction (range from RICS/CIOB guidance), quantifying cost performance
03
4.5% of U.S. construction contract value lost to safety incidents in a study (quantified safety cost share), linking safety to financial performance
04
10% reduction in change orders achieved by use of collaborative planning in a supplier case benchmark (measured change-order KPI), quantifying procurement/process improvement
05
6.2% of project cost overruns in public building projects attributed to scope changes in a national audit report (quantified overrun driver), giving audit-based performance context
06
U.S. construction safety: 5.1 workplace fatalities per 100,000 workers in construction in 2022 (BLS/OSHA-related), quantifying safety outcome
07
2.7% reduction in CO2-equivalent emissions per square meter in building operations after energy retrofits (IPCC-related range from measured studies), quantifying environmental performance
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance metrics show that UK construction productivity rose by 12.3% in 2022 while safety and scope management still materially affect outcomes in the US and public projects, with 4.5% of contract value lost to safety incidents, 5.1 workplace fatalities per 100,000 construction workers in 2022, and 6.2% of public project cost overruns tied to scope changes.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis8 stats
01
$91.1 billion total direct construction spend in the U.S. for 2022 (annual Census construction spending), used as a baseline for cost analysis
02
$2.7 billion additional costs in U.S. projects from change orders in 2021 (industry estimate), quantifying cost instability from changes
03
$9 billion annual economic burden from construction accidents in the U.S. (study estimate), quantifying safety-related cost
04
1.9% average annual increase in construction input prices in 2022 in the U.S. (BLS Producer/Construction input price measures), quantifying cost inflation pressure
05
$1.2 trillion estimated cost impact of carbon pricing across global construction supply chains (IEA estimate), quantifying carbon-cost exposure
06
7.0% average overrun in public works procurement in 2023 in a national audit sample (audit quantified), showing cost-overrun risk
07
$2.2 billion annual cost of poor project management in construction in the UK (PMI/industry estimate), quantifying management cost burden
08
$6.6 billion global annual construction fraud losses (industry estimate from ACFE-like publication), showing risk cost burden
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
The cost analysis data shows that construction spending is increasing and volatile, with input prices rising 1.9% in 2022 and U.S. projects adding about $2.7 billion in change order costs in 2021, while public works still see an average 7.0% procurement overrun in 2023, reinforcing that cost pressures come from both market rates and project execution.
report visual · Breakdown
Global construction scale vs. expected spending trajectory
Construction is a global-scale industry, with current output levels closely tracking projected spending growth into 2024.
52%
52% of contractors use digital compliance workflows (permits/forms) to manage regulatory documentation (survey), quantif
48%
48% of construction firms reported facing labor shortages in 2023 (survey), demonstrating workforce constraints
source-verifiedlexology.com · enr.com2023
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Min-ji Park. (2026, February 13). Builder Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/builder-industry-statistics
MLA
Min-ji Park. "Builder Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/builder-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Min-ji Park. 2026. "Builder Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/builder-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
41 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+10 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)