Worldwide construction of new housing units is expected to increase 3.3% per year to 60.9 million units in 2017, according to a new study from The Freedonia Group Inc. Even though expansion of the world population is projected to decelerate, a declining average household size will still allow the number of households in the world to grow 1.5% annually. That increase in households will add to demand for new housing units. In addition, increased rural-to-urban migration, especially in developing countries, will spur construction of new housing units in urban areas.
Such household formation and urbanization will create especially strong demand for new housing units in the Asia/Pacific and Africa/Mideast regions. Together, these two regions are expected to account for over 80% of the world’s new housing units constructed in 2017. North America is forecast to experience annual gains of 8.9%, while Western Europe can expect gains of 5.9% per year; several countries, including the U.S., Italy, and Spain, will experience double-digit annual increases in new housing construction.