Sharp Decrease
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said that domestic construction firms signed US$46.1 billion (54.28 trillion won) worth of overseas contracts in 2015, a 30.2 percent drop from the US$66 billion (77.72 trillion won) clinched the year before.
By region, construction orders from the Middle East, the biggest market for Korean builders, fell 47.2 percent to US$16.53 billion (19.46 trillion won) in 2015 from US$31.35 billion (36.91 trillion won) in the previous year. Orders from Africa and Europe fell by 80.9 percent year-on-year to US$1.71 billion (2.01 trillion won) in 2015, while orders from Central America dropped by 32.9 percent from 2014 to reach US$4.53 billion (5.33 trillion won) in 2015. On the contrary, orders from Asia climbed 23.9 percent to US$16.53 billion (19.46 trillion won) in 2015, while orders from North America and the Pacific increased 20.1 percent to US$3.65 billion (US$4.3 trillion won).
An official from the MOLIT said, “Although the country won orders worth over US$50 billion [58.88 trillion won] after 2010, its overseas order volume fell significantly due to worsening global conditions, such as the rapid drop in global oil prices and Islamic State issues, in 2015.”