K Construction, Overseas Orders Total 900 Billion Dollars... Re-enters Global Top 5

Overseas Construction Regional Order Accumulation Status

South Korean construction companies have re-entered the ranks of the world's top five construction powers, driven by continuous growth, with their cumulative overseas construction orders surpassing $900 billion.

The Overseas Construction Association announced on the 25th that the cumulative overseas construction orders have exceeded $900 billion. It has been 57 years since Korean construction first ventured abroad, starting with the Thailand road project in 1965. The $900 billion milestone was achieved as Lotte Construction secured the Indonesia Line Project ($1.4 billion) on the 25th.

This achievement comes amid simultaneous difficulties in the global and domestic economies due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of the Omicron variant. In particular, Korean companies have invigorated the Korean economy, which is facing a prolonged low-growth trend, by securing over $30 billion in orders for two consecutive years in 2020 ($35.1 billion) and 2021 ($30.6 billion) despite the spread of COVID-19.

As a result of consecutive $30 billion order achievements, in August, the ENR (Engineering News Record) announced that Korea has climbed back to become one of the world's top five overseas construction powers.

Over the Past 10 Years, Overseas Construction Contract Amounts

Overseas construction has established itself as a growth engine comparable to South Korea's representative export products.

In 2021, overseas construction orders amounted to $30.62 billion, surpassing ship exports ($23 billion), one of the main export products, ranking fourth after semiconductors, automobiles, and petroleum products.

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

Looking at the overseas construction order performance ($902.7 billion) over the past 57 years by region, the Middle East recorded $461.9 billion (51.2%), Asia $296.7 billion (32.9%), and Latin America $48.1 billion (5.3%).

Chairman Park Sun-ho said, "2022 is a monumental year as overseas construction has achieved a cumulative order of $900 billion," adding, "Going forward, we plan to concentrate all our efforts on supporting overseas construction together with the government and related organizations so that Korea's overseas construction industry can stand tall as a core industry leading the leap of the Korean economy through promoting high value-added and smartization."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.