"This Recession is the Worst Ever" ... Ominous Warning, Construction Investment Declines for 4 Consecutive Years

[Financial News] It has been revealed that domestic construction investment has declined for four consecutive years. This marks the longest period of recession on record. The simultaneous recession in annual industries such as steel and cement, as well as the reduction in housing supply, are analyzed to have unavoidable negative ripple effects.
According to the Korea Construction Industry Research Institute's 'Construction Trend Briefing' on the 21st, the '2023 National Accounts Final Figures' announced by the Bank of Korea showed that construction investment decreased from the previous 1.5% increase to -0.5%. The national accounts are statistics that comprehensively show the scale and structure of economic activities in our country. These statistics are released in the order of preliminary figures → provisional figures → final figures.
According to the institute, with construction investment turning negative in 2023, it will decline for four consecutive years from 2021 to 2024. Specifically, it was -0.2% in 2021, -3.5% in 2022, -0.5% in 2023, and -3.3% in 2024.
The institute explained that the four-year consecutive decline in construction investment is the first since the statistics began in 1970. The longest period of recession in construction investment on an annual basis was a three-year consecutive decline from 2010 to 2012 after the global financial crisis.
The problem is that most institutions are predicting a decline in construction investment this year as well. In fact, construction investment in the first quarter of this year decreased by 13.3% compared to the same period last year, and cumulative construction performance (constant 2020) from January to May also decreased by 21.1% compared to the same period last year.
Park Cheol-hwan, a research fellow at the Korea Construction Industry Research Institute, said, "With the expected decline in construction investment continuing this year, a historically unprecedented five-year long-term recession is expected," adding, "It suggests that we have entered a phase of structural change rather than a temporary adjustment." He continued, "The long-term recession in construction investment inevitably has significant ripple effects on the economy and society as a whole, including employment reduction, simultaneous recession in related industries, regional job reduction, domestic demand contraction, and deepening regional economic polarization." 
According to Statistics Korea, the number of construction workers in the first half of this year was 1,939,000, a decrease of 146,000 from a year ago. This is the largest decline in 26 years since the first half of 1999 during the foreign exchange crisis (-274,000).
Meanwhile, experts explain that in order to revive the stagnant construction industry, it is necessary to improve the constitution of construction companies as well as find ways to revive polarized demand. A representative from the Housing Association emphasized, "Ultimately, if demand does not revive, neither will the resolution of polarization nor the market recovery." ljb@fnnews.com Lee Jong-bae Reporter