Revenue of S. Korea's construction companies logs largest fall in 25 years

Alsharq Tribune-Otaify 

Revenue of South Korea's construction companies logged the largest fall in 25 years last year amid the lackluster real estate market, statistical ministry data showed Tuesday.

The revenue declined 3.8 percent from a year earlier to 487.7 trillion won (330.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024, marking the steepest drop since 1999 when it tumbled 11.1 percent amid the negative effect of the foreign exchange crisis, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

Sales by general construction firms diminished 5.3 percent to 311.4 trillion won (211.3 billion dollars), while revenue by specialized construction companies shrank 0.9 percent to 176.3 trillion won (119.6 billion dollars).

Construction cost for general contractors reduced 3.3 percent to 308.1 trillion won (209.1 billion dollars), while the cost of construction for specialized subcontractors decreased 1.4 percent to 169.6 trillion won (115.1 billion dollars).

Revenue from overseas construction by local builders mounted 17.1 percent to 48.4 trillion won (32.8 billion dollars), but domestic construction sales dwindled 5.6 percent to 439.3 trillion won (298.1 billion dollars).

The number of construction companies was 89,101 in 2024, up 1.4 percent compared to the previous year.

The number of workers in the construction industry slipped 2.8 percent to 1,759,000 last year.