Overview

The current issues of increased material costs and delays which hit the globe in 2021 are also affecting the Scandinavian construction companies and will have consequences for their productivity. In Sweden there is at the same time a cement crisis on the horizon which is a concerning topic for many of the local construction companies as the import in these product areas have been non-existent up until now.

Despite these issues at hand, the demand in the construction market has so far been good in Scandinavia, reaching levels of pre-pandemic in many cases. There are expectations for a flat market development in Sweden after a strong growth recently. Both Denmark and Norway have experienced a temporary decline in recent years much due to the pandemic, but there are now prospects for new growth in the next couple of years from different industry forecasts and analysis in both countries.

The Scandinavian countries have some of the highest construction costs in Europe, while the capacity and competition is low. This has led to a housing crisis in many of the biggest Scandinavian cities and foreign construction companies have been, and will be, a vital part of the Scandinavian construction sector to keep up with the demand for the future.

While there is a positive outlook for the coming years, the governments of the Scandinavian countries have been stepping up their aims for a more sustainable construction sector. Each of the Scandinavian countries have set ambitious targets for a construction sector that will be climate neutral, have closed material circuits and net zero emissions of pollutants.

The Scandinavian construction sector has responded to these targets as companies are now vocally asking the governments to increase the incentives and legislation for sustainable practices in the construction sector and it is expected that sustainable practises will be required in an increased number of public tenders already in the next years to come. Many construction companies in the region are foreseeing this change and are now using sustainability as a competitive advantage. The ambition and focus to become a leader in sustainability will have them keeping an eye out for new developments, which offers exciting opportunities for foreign suppliers of innovative building materials, equipment and technical solutions that can decrease the environmental impact on the construction sector in Scandinavia.