Construction in the UAE – Key Trends and Opportunities to 2022

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The UAE construction industry regained growth momentum in 2017, with output expanding by 3.9% in real terms – up from 3.0% in 2016. Growth during the review period (2013–2017) averaged 4.1% a year, and was supported by public and private sector investment in transport, commercial, residential and energy infrastructure projects, leading to an increase in demand for the UAE construction industry.

The industry is expected to continue to expand over the forecast period (2018–2022), driven by investments in transport, energy and social infrastructure development projects under various programs such as the Strategic Plan 2021, the Energy Strategy 2050, Sheikh Zayed Housing Program, Dubai Tourism Strategy 2020 and the National Strategy for Higher Education 2030. The upcoming World Expo 2020, to be hosted by Dubai, is expected to be a major growth driver.

Industry growth will also be driven by the UAE Vision 2021 and Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, under which the government marks industrialization, diversification and privatization as growth opportunities. The government is investing in non-oil sectors to reduce the country’s dependency on the oil and gas sector. This will support the growth of the construction industry over the forecast period.

The industry’s output value in real terms is expected to record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.73% over the forecast period.

Scope

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the construction industry in the UAE. It provides:

• Historical (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2022) valuations of the construction industry in the UAE, featuring details of key growth drivers.

• Segmentation by sector (commercial, industrial, infrastructure, energy and utilities, institutional and residential) and by sub-sector

• Analysis of the mega-project pipeline, including breakdowns by development stage across all sectors, and projected spending on projects in the existing pipeline.

• Listings of major projects, in addition to details of leading contractors and consultants

Key Highlights

• Government focus on developing infrastructure ahead of the 2020 World Expo is expected to support growth in the UAE construction industry over the forecast period. Accordingly, the government is expected to invest over AED25.0 billion (US$6.8 billion) to develop Expo-related infrastructure, including roads, rail and other transport infrastructure projects in and around the Expo site.

• GlobalData expects the energy and utility construction market output to record a forecast-period CAGR of 6.81% in nominal terms, driven by government investments in renewable energy infrastructure. The government plans to invest AED600.0 billion (US$163.0 billion) to develop renewable energy projects in the country by 2050.

• The government’s focus on the construction of affordable houses is expected to drive growth in the residential construction market. In the 2018 federal budget, the government announced plans to invest AED1.4 billion (US$381.2 million) on housing projects under the Sheikh Zayed Housing Program.

• The UAE construction industry’s growth will be driven by a government plan to increase the share of renewable energy in terms of total energy consumption, encouraging investment in renewable energy infrastructure. To reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels to generate power and meet rising energy demand, the government is developing renewable energy infrastructure. The government aims to generate 44% of the country’s total electricity needs through renewable sources by 2050, under the new UAE Energy Plan 2050.

• The total construction project pipeline in the UAE, as tracked by the Construction Intelligence Center (CIC), including all mega-projects with values above US$25 million, stands at AED3.2 trillion (US$864.3 billion). The pipeline, which includes all projects from the pre-planning to execution stages, is heavily skewed to late-stage projects, with only 17.3% of the pipeline value being in projects in the pre-planning and planning stages as of January 2018.

Reasons to Buy

• Identify and evaluate market opportunities using GlobalData's standardized valuation and forecasting methodologies.

• Assess market growth potential at a micro-level with over 600 time-series data forecasts.

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Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary

2 Construction Outlook: At-a-glance

3 Latest News and Indicators

4 Key Drivers and Risks

4.1 Economic Performance

4.2 Political Environment

4.3 Demographics

4.4 Risk Profile

5 Construction Outlook

5.1 All Construction

5.1.1 Outlook

5.1.2 Project analytics

5.2 Commercial Construction

5.2.1 Outlook

5.2.2 Project analytics

5.3 Industrial Construction

5.3.1 Outlook

5.3.2 Project analytics

5.4 Infrastructure Construction

5.4.1 Outlook

5.4.2 Project analytics

5.5 Energy and Utilities Construction

5.5.1 Outlook

5.5.2 Project analytics

5.6 Institutional Construction

5.6.1 Outlook

5.6.2 Project analytics

5.7 Residential Construction

5.7.1 Outlook

5.7.2 Project analytics

6 Key Industry Participants

6.1 Contractors

6.2 Consultants

7 Appendix

7.1 What is this Report About?

7.2 Definitions

7.3 About GlobalData

7.4 About CIC

7.5 Disclaimer

Table

Table 1: UAE, Key Economic Indicators

Table 2: UAE, Construction Output Value (nominal, AED Million)

Table 3: UAE, Construction Output Value (nominal, US$ Million)

Table 4: UAE, Top Commercial Construction Projects by Value

Table 5: UAE, Top Industrial Construction Projects by Value

Table 6: UAE, Top Infrastructure Construction Projects by Value

Table 7: UAE, Top Energy and Utilities Construction Projects by Value

Table 8: UAE, Top Institutional Construction Projects by Value

Table 9: UAE, Top Residential Construction Projects by Value

Table 10: UAE, Key Contractors

Table 11: UAE, Key Consultants

Table 12: GlobalData Construction Market Definitions

Table 13: Construction Risk Index Ratings and Scores

Figures

Figure 1: Key Markets, Construction Output Growth and Risk Matrix

Figure 2: UAE, Construction Projects Pipeline by Sector (AED Million)

Figure 3: Dubai, Building Permits (Total Numbers)

Figure 4: UAE, Risk Comparison, Q4 2017

Figure 5: UAE, Risk Comparison Review

Figure 6: UAE, Construction Output Value (Real, US$ billion, 2010 prices and exchange rate)

Figure 7: UAE, Construction Output Value, Growth Matrix

Figure 8: UAE, Construction Output Value, by Sector (AED Million), 2013–2022

Figure 9: UAE, Construction Projects Pipeline, Projected Annual Spending by Stage (AED Million), 2017–2022

Figure 10: UAE, Construction Projects Pipeline, Value by Stage (AED Million)

Figure 11: UAE, Commercial Construction Output by Project Type (AED Million), 2013–2022

Figure 12: UAE, Commercial Construction Projects Pipeline, Value by Stage (AED Million)

Figure 13: UAE, Commercial Construction Projects Pipeline, Projected Annual Spending by Stage (AED Million)

Figure 14: UAE, Industrial Construction Output by Project Type (AED Million), 2013–2022

Figure 15: UAE, Industrial Construction Projects Pipeline, Value by Stage (AED Million)

Figure 16: UAE, Industrial Construction Projects Pipeline, Projected Annual Spending by Stage (AED Million)

Figure 17: UAE, Infrastructure Construction Output by Project Type (AED Million), 2013–2022

Figure 18: UAE, Infrastructure Construction Projects Pipeline, Value by Stage (AED Million)

Figure 19: UAE, Infrastructure Construction Projects Pipeline, Projected Annual Spending by Stage (AED Million)

Figure 20: UAE, Energy and Utilities Construction Output by Project Type (AED Million), 2013–2022

Figure 21: UAE, Energy and Utilities Construction Projects Pipeline, Value by Stage (AED Million)

Figure 22: UAE, Energy and Utilities Construction Projects Pipeline, Projected Annual Spending by Stage (AED Million)

Figure 23: UAE, Institutional Construction Output by Project Type (AED Million), 2013–2022

Figure 24: UAE, Institutional Construction Projects Pipeline, Value by Stage (AED Million)

Figure 25: UAE, Institutional Construction Projects Pipeline, Projected Annual Spending by Stage (AED Million)

Figure 26: UAE, Residential Construction Output by Project Type (AED Million), 2013–2022

Figure 27: UAE, Residential Construction Projects Pipeline, Value by Stage (AED Million)

Figure 28: UAE, Residential Construction Projects Pipeline, Projected Annual Spending by Stage (AED Million)

Figure 29: UAE, Headquarters of Key Contractors (% of Total Project Pipeline)

Figure 30: UAE, Headquarters of Foreign Contractors (% of Project Pipeline with Foreign Contractor)

Figure 31: UAE, Headquarters of Key Consultants (% of Total Project Pipeline)

Figure 32: UAE, Headquarters of Foreign Consultants (% of Project Pipeline with Foreign Consultants)

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