(MENAFN- The Peninsula) As a result of real estate boom and massive infrastructure development, Qatar ranked second among the world's 30 leading countries in terms of per capita contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 'built assets' estimated at $20,630 (QR75,124) in 2013, closely followed by the UAE, according to a global study released yesterday by EC Harris, a UK-based real asset consultancy.
Qatar, the host of 2022 Fifa World Cup, is only behind Singapore ($29,500) and ahead of the United Arab Emirates ($17,470), USA ($17,460), Hong Kong ($16,340) and Japan ($15,450). While Germany ($12,730) and France ($12,720), Europe's largest and second largest economies have stood at 9th and 10 positions, respectively.
Launched by EC Harris, an ARCADIS company and built asset consultancy firm and developed in conjunction with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), ARCADIS' Global Built Asset Performance Index, the landmark study illustrates how buildings and infrastructure contribute to GDP across the world, including Qatar.
Terry Tommason, Head of Qatar Property and Social Infrastructure, at EC Harris said: "Qatar is one of the prosperous performers ranked second out of 30 countries in terms of generating GDP from its built environment on a per capita basis. The economy generates significant income per capita from its built asset wealth than many countries which bodes well for future economic growth. Furthermore, the entire Middle East market is expected to show robust growth of 29 per cent in per capita terms over the coming decade and has the potential to raise built asset returns quickly."
On an absolute basis, however, Qatar ranked 30th out of the 30 markets surveyed, due to its relatively small geographic size and population. On this basis, China, India and Japan all featured in the world's top five markets in terms of GDP generated from built assets, with the USA and Germany completing the top five.
Tommason added: "From our research we can see that countries face many different challenges in order to maximise the performance of their built assets. While some countries are proactively managing their built asset wealth to put them in pole position to reap the economic returns over the coming decade, others are in danger of failing to invest in their aging built asset base leading to a slow decline in their economic power. Sustaining a built asset base that protects the environment, enables people to thrive and creates economic value is possible but a clear long-term vision to deliver this infrastructure is absolutely essential."
In terms of future performance, Singapore did not fare as well. While Asia is by far the region that is expected to see the biggest built asset performance expansion by 2022, with eight of the world's top 11 markets expected to see the most growth are located in Asia, Singapore and Japan were the economies not to be in the world's top 11. China, Indonesia, India and Malaysia were all in the top five for projected built asset performance by 2022.
The Index illustrates, for the first time, how Singapore compared to 29 other countries that collectively represent 82 percent of global GDP and are a mixture of both advanced and emerging economies. The Index also reveals that total built asset income within these countries stood at $27.2 trillion, amounting to 40 per cent of total GDP. This figure is expected to rise to $28.2 trillion in 2014.
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