Business & Money | Wednesday 15 April, 2015 7:50 am |

February 16 2015 – dmg events today announced the results of a commissioned study conducted by Ventures ME which revealed that construction projects across all building sectors worth US$67.6bn were completed in the GCC in 2014. The research also looked into 2015 and estimates projects for US$72bn (+6.5%) to be completed and US$103bn (+21.2%) to be awarded across the year. 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 with useful regional market insights.

Overview of 2014 GCC Building Construction Projects
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. US$67.56bn worth of projects were completed with a further US$85bn worth of projects awarded. Hospitality, medical and retail buildings were also completed – with total values of US$4.4bn, US$3.72bn and US$854mn respectively. The top markets across all sectors bar retail were KSA and the UAE, with Qatar ranking top with completed retail projects worth US$362mn.

Overview of 2014 GCC Interior Contracting and Fit-out Market
The value of the GCC Interior Contracting and Fit-out Market in 2014 was US$7.35bn – with KSA and the UAE showing the highest market share within the industry. KSA was the highest ranking market with a 43 per cent share (US$3.4bn) followed by the UAE valued at US$2.3bn 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 per cent (US$3.09bn). The commercial sector followed with a 17.15 per cent share corresponding to a value of US$1.26bn and the hospitality sector with 13.51 per cent share and a value of US$993mn – largely unchanged when compared to 2013.

2015 Forecast
Looking ahead to 2015 projects, the Ventures ME Report highlighted that figures across both the building construction and interiors markets are both set to increase further.
US$72bn worth of completed projects and US$103bn worth of awarded projects are forecasted over the next 12 months; the interiors market is also likely to grow by 9 per cent.

Building Construction Market
The Healthcare Sector is expected to grow by 91.12 per cent from a value of US$3.72bn registered in 2014, to an estimated value of US$7.11bn for 2015. Qatar in particular will be the country with the majority of healthcare buildings completed worth a total value of US$2.43bn -followed by KSA with US$2.15bn and the UAE US$1.82bn.

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.

Interior Fit-out Market
Out of an overall estimated market value of US$7.35bn, the Residential Sector will account for 41.95 per cent and US$3.09bn in value, followed by the Commercial Sector at 17.15 per cent and US$1.26bn of value and the Hospitality Sector with 13.51 per cent and US$99mn in value.

When compared to 2014 figures, the Healthcare Sector will see the biggest growth with a huge 91.6 per cent increase and reaching a value of US$569m. The Education Sector is expected to see the biggest drop in value by -13.72 per cent from US$571m to US$492m.

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.”

The full GCC Building Construction and Interiors Update from INDEX and Ventures ME, valued at $2,500 can be downloaded for free via the INDEX website (http://www.indexexhibition.com/exhibit/industry-reports/)

The 25th edition of INDEX International Design Exhibition and the 14th edition of workspace at INDEX will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre on 18-21 May 2015.


For further information visit www.indexexhibition.com / www.workspace-index.com