New Report
Read the Report
The report was produced by Newground Alliance in collaboration with Brickanta. It draws on data from Statistics Sweden's National Accounts and reviews Swedish, Nordic and international research from sources including Boverket, McKinsey, OECD, RICS and the Swedish Productivity Commission. The full report is available to read and download below.
Key Insights
That's what Swedish construction leaves on the table in productivity, every year. Since 1980, the cumulative loss exceeds SEK 2,200 billion. More than seven years of the sector's output.
Construction productivity has grown 18 percent since 1980. The broader market economy has more than doubled in the same period. Since the mid-2000s, the construction curve points downward.
Construction professionals spend 35 percent of their time on non-value-adding work: 5.5 hours searching for information, 4.7 hours resolving conflicts, 3.9 hours dealing with mistakes and rework.
Budget overruns are the system's default state.
Three out of four construction projects finish behind schedule.
Sweden needs to build 52,000 homes annually through 2033. The 2026 forecast lands at 36,000. The gap cannot be closed by hiring more, as long as productivity stands still.
Only around six percent of construction tasks can be fully automated. The leverage lies elsewhere: strengthening the judgment of the workforce already in place.