Hong Kong construction firms’ confidence in short-term survival takes beating
Rising construction costs, ageing workforce and tighter regulations most significant challenges affecting operations, survey finds
Hong Kong construction companies’ confidence in their near-term survival has dropped to its lowest since the pandemic, with fewer than half believing they can carry on with the current number of projects they have, a survey by a trade body has found.
The annual Construction Industry Business Index poll, conducted by the Construction Association and Hang Seng University between November and December, gauged views of 237 member companies on both short- and medium-term prospects of the industry.
It had a response rate of 49.4 per cent. The respondents’ average scores for the construction industry’s short- and medium-term prospects were 5 and 5.7 respectively, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the least confident and 10 the most. Short term referred to one to two years while the medium term was two to five years.
The figures were the lowest since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The survey also found that only 41 per cent of respondents expected the number of projects and their profit to sustain their company’s near-term survival.
Twenty-eight per cent indicated that they would not be able to survive, a 10 percentage point increase over the 2023 survey.
However, the study showed a slight increase in confidence over the industry’s prospects in the long term – over five years – with an average score of 6.5, which the association said reflected a cautiously optimistic outlook.
