JEDDAH – The building construction and interiors markets are both set to increase further, a study conducted by Ventures ME disclosed Monday. The research commissioned by dmg events also looked into 2015 and estimates projects for $72 billion (+6.5%) to be completed and $103 billion (+21.2%) to be awarded across the year. The study said $72 billion worth of completed projects and $103 billion worth of awarded projects are forecasted over the next 12 months; the interiors market is also likely to grow by 9 percent. The Healthcare Sector is expected to grow by 91.12 percent from a value of $3.72 billion registered in 2014, to an estimated value of $7.11 billion for 2015. Qatar in particular will be the country with the majority of healthcare buildings completed worth a total value of $2.43 billion -followed by KSA with $2.15 billion and the UAE $1.82 billion. Despite the huge increase in the Healthcare Sector, the building construction market will still be led by the residential and commercial sectors that together will account for over half of the market share concentrated particularly in KSA, the UAE and Qatar. Out of an overall estimated market value of $7.35 billion, the Residential Sector will account for 41.95 percent and $3.09 billion in value, followed by the Commercial Sector at 17.15 percent and $1.26 billion of value and the Hospitality Sector with 13.51 percent and $99 million in value. When compared to 2014 figures, the Healthcare Sector will see the biggest growth with a huge 91.6 percent increase and reaching a value of $569 million. The Education Sector is expected to see the biggest drop in value by -13.72 percent from $571 million to $492 million. The study said construction projects across all building sectors worth $67.6 billion were completed in the GCC in 2014. 2014 was another strong year for the construction market with residential (41.5%), commercial (16.97%) and educational (10.6%) segments representing the highest market shares. $67.56 billion worth of projects were completed with a further $85 billion worth of projects awarded. Hospitality, medical and retail buildings were also completed – with total values of $4.4 billion, $3.72 billion and $854 million respectively. The top markets across all sectors bar retail were KSA and the UAE, with Qatar ranking top with completed retail projects worth $362 million. The value of the GCC Interior Contracting and Fit-out Market in 2014 was $7.35 billion – with KSA and the UAE showing the highest market share within the industry. KSA was the highest-ranking market with a 43 percent share ($3.4 billion) followed by the UAE valued at $2.3 billion and representing a 31% market share. For the second year running the residential sector accounted for almost half of the overall 2014 market with a market share of 41.95 percent ($3.09 billion). The commercial sector followed with a 17.15 percent share corresponding to a value of $1.26 billion and the hospitality sector with 13.51 percent share and a value of $993 million – largely unchanged when compared to 2013. This is the fourth consecutive year that dmg events, the company behind INDEX - the leading MENA Design exhibition – and workspace at INDEX, has invested in the study, contributing to the global industry Commenting on the figures released by Ventures ME, Frederique Maurell, Group Event Director for INDEX and workspace at INDEX, said: “2013 was a strong year for the GCC Building Construction market with almost all sectors showing significant growth. For 2014 we've seen continued growth with KSA, the UAE and Qatar doing particularly well. Looking ahead to 2015 the forecast for both awarded and completed projects shows further increases again with particularly exciting times ahead for the Residential and Commercial Sectors.” — SG
