Commercial construction permits made up the largest proportion of the more than 201 thousand permits issued in 2021. Within the country, the largest number of permits for housing was issued in the province of Gyeonggi which surrounds the capital city of Seoul. This province contains many commuter towns for people mainly employed in Seoul. Around seventy percent of these permits were for the construction of new apartment complexes with sizes ranging from 60 to 135 square meters.
Overseas construction projects also make the construction sector a major export industry. Foreign entities contract with major Korean construction companies to build buildings and facilities for them. A notable example is the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai, U.A.E., which is currently the tallest structure in the world, built by Samsung C&T. Samsung C&T is considered the leading construction company in South Korea, ahead of Hyundai E&C in terms of sales revenue. The total value of overseas orders stood at around 31 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 with almost half coming from other Asian countries, followed by Middle Eastern countries. A significant portion of overseas construction orders was for industrial facilities, such as plants.
