International revenue of leading construction contractors 2021

ACS/Hochtief was the contractor with the largest international revenue in 2021, generating approximately 32 billion U.S. dollars outside of its home country. The French contractor Vinci was the second firm in the list with the largest international revenue. Nevertheless, the five construction companies with the highest overall revenue figures, when considering both domestic and international activities, are headquartered in China.

Are positive figures papering over the cracks?

The leading 250 construction contractors generated an international revenue of less than 400 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, a figure that has been decreasing steadily since 2013 . The market has faced significant challenges in the past years, particularly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the gross value added of the construction industry in the United Kingdom and of many other countries decreased a lot in 2020. Nevertheless, construction activity has generally recovered in after the initial shock of the pandemic, even if the largest companies have been generating less of their turnover abroad.

Grupo ACS

The Spanish construction firm ACS – Actividades de Construccion y Servicios – has become a dominant force within the global construction market, expanding its activities with contracts abroad. In fact, the countries from which ACS generated most of its revenue in 2022 were the United States and Australia, which were more important markets than Spain. In addition to that, ACS first acquired shares of the Hochtief in 2007, securing majority stake of the German company in 2011. Most of the revenue of Hochtief was also generated outside of Europe.