ARCADIS study reveals that eight of the top 11 markets that will see the greatest increase in built asset performance by 2022 will be in Asia
ARCADIS, the leading global natural and built asset design and consultancy firm, has published a landmark study that illustrates how buildings and infrastructure contribute to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) across the world.
Developed in conjunction with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), ARCADIS’ Global Built Asset Performance Index reveals that China, India and Japan are three of the world’s top five markets in terms of the level of return they generate in absolute terms from their built assets, with the US and Germany rounding out the top five.
The ARCADIS report also shows that when it comes to projected improvement in built asset performance by 2022, eight of the top 11 markets from the study are located in Asia. This demonstrates the enormous potential growth for the region as more infrastructure, machinery, plants and other tangible investments are built over the coming decade.
“Asia’s GDP growth is poised to continue over the next decade. With continued investment in real estate and infrastructure from now until 2022, we can expect built assets to generate enormous GDP growth in many markets across the region. Investors, owners and occupiers in both the public and private sectors all have a role to play in boosting their built asset performance to the benefit of themselves and their wider economy” said Graham Kean, Regional Leader, EC Harris Asia.
China leads U.S.A, India, Japan and Mexico in the global ranking of built asset performance:
In 2013, China secured USD 6.9 trillion from its built assets, nearly 20 per cent more than the US, which ranked #2 with USD 5.6 trillion of GDP value generated from its assets. Not only does China rank #1 in absolute terms but it is also far ahead of the US and most other markets when it comes to percentage of GDP generated from built assets, with a total of 53 per cent. In comparison, the US only generates about 37 per cent of its GDP from built assets, as it relies on a larger proportion of wages/salaries and intangible capital/natural resource rents for contributions to GDP. India and Japan were also in the top five markets, generating USD 2.0 trillion and 1.9 trillion respectively.
The top ten nations on the Global Built Asset Performance Index in terms of return secured are:
Country Built Asset Income (USD) *
1. China 6.9tn
2. USA 5.6tn
3. India 2.0tn
4. Japan 1.9tn
5. Germany 1.0tn
6. Mexico 995bn
7. France 822bn
8. UK 696bn
9. Brazil 637bn
10. Turkey 625bn
*Income shown as a ‘Purchasing Power Parity’ measure of GDP to enable accurate global comparison
Built asset performance per capita – Singapore is #1, India is last:
On a per-capita basis, however, China and India rank in the bottom half when it comes to GDP contribution from built assets. In fact, on this measure, India ranked last out of the thirty markets surveyed, illustrating how little GDP the country is generating from its built assets based on the size of the population these assets are expected to serve.