The construction industry in Indonesia is expected to record a growth of 7.2% in real terms in 2022, surpassing the pre-pandemic output levels. This would be a notable increase compared to the growth rate of 3.1% recorded in 2021, when large-scale social restrictions and pandemic-related uncertainty deterred new construction investment which consequently impacted construction progress, finds GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report, ‘Indonesia Construction Market Size, Trends and Forecasts by Sector – Commercial, Industrial, Infrastructure, Energy and Utilities, Institutional and Residential Market Analysis, 2022-2026’, reveals that following the recovery in 2022, Indonesia’s construction industry is expected to record an annual average growth of 5.8% in real terms over the remainder of the forecast period, between 2023 and 2026. Growth over the forecast period is expected to be driven by the Indonesian government’s commitment to invest $430bn on public infrastructure development by 2024 and works on the 2021– 2030 Electricity Supply Business Plan (RUPTL).

Willis Rooney, Economist at GlobalData, comments: “The government is expected to continue its substantial planned infrastructure investment, to offset the economic impact of the current wave of the Omicron variant and an expected normalization of monetary policy by Bank Indonesia.

“In December 2021, the government allocated $27.1bn for infrastructure development in its 2022 state budget, which is expected to support the delivery of six new airports, 6,624km of railway and 205km of new road. Construction growth will be further supported by the Indonesian Ministry of Public Works’ plan to expand its 2,000 km toll road network to 5,000 km by 2024.”

Having been disrupted during much of the first three quarters of 2021, due to the impact of large-scale social restrictions, there has been a noticeable improvement in construction activity.

Rooney concludes: “In Indonesia, GlobalData’s Construction Project Momentum Index (CPMI) accelerated in the final quarter of 2021, rising to 0.49 in Q4 following a CPMI score of 0.3 in Q3 2021. The CPMI is an assessment of the health of the construction project pipeline at all stages of development, from announcement through to completion.

“Project momentum has been relatively subdued during the pandemic, though picked up rapidly in December 2021 and January 2022, following an easing of restrictions. Indonesia recorded the second-highest CPMI score in South-East Asia in January 2022.”