Fernando de Querol Cumbrera
Research expert covering construction, loans, leasing, savings, and debt
Construction industry in Brazil - statistics & facts
The construction industry in Brazil has a positive outlook for the next few years. Not only has the industry grown significantly, with the construction gross domestic product (GDP) growing by 2.91 percent in 2023, and it had even higher growth rates in 2021 and 2022. In addition to that, the Brazilian economy in general has some bright years ahead, with Brazil’s GDP forecast to reach 2.3 trillion Brazilian reals in 2025. Brazil has a small construction industry for a country of its size, and therefore has room for growth. In fact, in 2023, it was the Latin American country with the lowest construction as a share of its GDP, along with Bolivia, far below the regional average.
The positive outlook for the construction industry as a whole should also have a positive effect on all segments, including the building materials industry.
Infrastructure construction on the rise
Building construction was the segment of the construction industry with the highest revenue in Brazil in 2022. Infrastructure construction was not so far behind, considering that there has been some underinvestment in that segment. Satisfaction levels with infrastructure in Brazil were low, with less than half of adults considering roads good or fairly good. Nevertheless, investment in infrastructure has soared in the past years, and it was expected to reach 259 billion Brazilian reals in 2024. Both public and private investment, which made up most of the overall amount, has risen every year since 2022.A significant share of the industry’s revenue went to building materials
Beyond the construction of buildings and infrastructure, a significant share of the construction GDP was generated by other segments in 2023. Services such as design and architecture agencies, along with companies involved in the equipment and machinery industries, generated a small part of that revenue. However, the building materials industry made up most of the revenue that wasn’t directly related to the activity of construction contractors. That involves the firms that manufacture those materials, as well as those that distribute and sell them. In the first seven months of 2023 alone, the production of cement in Brazil amounted to 39.5 million metric tons.The positive outlook for the construction industry as a whole should also have a positive effect on all segments, including the building materials industry.
