Singapore Commercial Bldg Demand Expected To Rise In 2023

SINGAPORE – Commercial building demand here is forecasted to increase this year due to the rescheduling of a number of major projects from 2022 to 2023, in addition to redevelopment of old commercial buildings to improve asset values, according to a press release published by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) last week.

The government agency revealed that Singapore’s overall construction demand or the total value of construction contracts to be awarded is expected to reach between S$27 billion and S$32 billion in 2023.

“This is due to a steady level of construction demand and some backlog of remaining workloads impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak since 2020,” stated the BCA.

Of this, the public sector is projected to contribute around 60 percent of the overall tally at between S$16 billion and S$19 billion.

In comparison, construction demand from the private sector is forecasted range from S$11 billion and S$13 billion, which is somewhat comparable to the S$11.9 billion initial figure recorded for 2022.

For last year, the initial total construction demand hit S$29.8 billion. Apart from being within the Authority’s earlier forecast ranging between S$27 billion and S$32 billion, it is also roughly comparable to the S$29.9 billion witnessed in 2021.

“The continued firm demand was largely supported by residential and infrastructure projects in both public and private sectors,” noted the government agency.

In particular, public sector construction demand rose marginally to S$17.9 billion in 2022 from S$17.8 billion during the preceding year. Conversely, private sector construction demand declined from S$12.1 billion to S$11.9 billion over the same period.