Construction industry in France - statistics & facts

Despite the challenges faced in the past years, the construction industry in France is expected to grow in 2022 and 2023. Among its three main segments, specialized construction, which includes activities such as maintenance and renovation, had the biggest market share. However, the forecasts for the two smaller segments, building construction and civil engineering, also follow a positive trend.

Enduring an adverse business climate

During the last couple of years, the French construction industry faced several important challenges. First of all, the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures implemented to contain the spread of the virus since 2020 resulted in lower production levels. In addition to that, particularly since 2021, there have also been material shortages, leading to increasing material prices. In 2022, well over 40 percent of companies operating in France experienced construction material or equipment shortages. Those factors, along with the widespread inflation and the increasing energy prices, have caused construction costs to grow in the past months.

French construction companies worldwide

In France, construction activities represented a 5.6 percent of GDP in 2021. This means that the French economy depended less on this industry than other major European countries such as Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, or Spain. However, French construction contractors generated a global aggregated revenue that was only outperformed by those from China and Spain. This made France the country with the third-largest construction contractors’ revenue worldwide. To put this into perspective, the French companies Vinci and Bouygues were among the top ten construction firms with the highest revenue worldwide - a ranking largely dominated by Chinese companies. The reason why France has companies of such scale, even if its home market is not particularly big relative to the size of its economy, is that they have a strong international presence. For example, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain only generated approximately a quarter of its revenue in France, and it had a strong presence in North America and other European countries, as well as in Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Jun 9, 2022

Key insights

Construction's share of the GVA in France
5.2%
Biggest construction firm in Europe by sales
Vinci
Commercial construction type with most floor space started
Warehouse
Get more insights

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Residential building construction starts in France from 2000 to 2021, by building type and floor space (in million square meters)

Building Construction

Dwelling construction starts in France 2000-2021, by building type and floor space

Revenue of the building construction and renovation industry in France in 2020, by region (in billion euros)

Building Construction

Building construction and renovation industry revenue in France 2020, by region

Average number of weeks of work guaranteed by the order backlog of the building maintenance and renovation industry in France from 2018 to 2021, by quarter

Building Construction

Order backlog of building maintenance and renovation industry in France 2018-2021

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