Civil Engineering Industry Outlook [2026]: USD 94T Infrastructure Need

Civil Engineering Snapshot for 2026

The global construction market reached USD 13 trillion of gross annual output in 2023. This was about 7% of global gross output – and frames the next cycle as a capacity problem in constant prices. Further, global construction spending is projected to reach USD 22 trillion in 2040.

From a workforce perspective, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates civil engineers held 368 900 jobs in 2024 in the United States. They earned a USD 99 590 median annual wage, and faced 5% employment growth during 2024-2034 with ~23 600 openings per year driven largely by replacement demand.

The Global Infrastructure Hub estimates USD 94 trillion of infrastructure investment is needed by 2040, averaging roughly USD 3.7 trillion per year, with an implied USD 18 trillion cumulative “funding gap” versus current investment trends.

Why 2015-2023 Cost Inflation is Rewriting Project Controls & Risk Allocation

Global construction productivity improved only ~10% between 2000 and 2022 – roughly 0.4% annually. It even declined by ~8% from 2020 to 2022. This reinforces the case that digitization and industrialization are more of a throughput requirement now.

McKinsey also quantifies the cost-pressure channel that civil engineering owners feel directly. Construction costs rose 36% in Europe during 2015-2023, and nonresidential construction prices rose 52% in the United States during the same period.

On market concentration, ENR’s Top 250 International Contractors reported USD 499.7 billion in total contracting revenue for 2023 (international contractors, global). This is a top-of-market proxy that contrasts with the long-tail fragmentation.

The global civil engineering market stands at USD 13.8 trillion in 2025 and is forecast to expand to USD 23.0 trillion by 2035, growing at a CAGR of 5.2%.

In parallel, our platform data indicates that the civil engineering industry recorded a -1.46% yearly growth rate, reflecting a mature market where activity is shaped more by long project cycles, consolidation, and operational optimization than by rapid new company formation.

On a regional scale, according to Future Market Insights, China (7.0%) and India (6.5%) lead growth due to large-scale infrastructure, urbanization, and government-led projects.

France (5.5%) focuses on urban modernization and energy infrastructure, while the UK (4.9%) sees steady expansion across residential, commercial, and industrial construction. The USA (4.4%) grows through infrastructure upgrades, urban development, and advanced construction technologies.

The European Patent Office reports 4397 patent applications in “Civil engineering” in 2024 versus 4485 in 2023 (-2.0%).

Startup Use Cases That Matter

CiviBOT – AI Assistant for Civil Engineering Questions

US-based startup CiviBOT develops an AI assistant for civil engineering questions and workflows.

It offers a suite of products that process engineering knowledge, project data, and technical documentation using natural language models trained on civil engineering standards, references, and design practices.

CiviChat enables engineers to ask technical questions and receive structured, context-aware explanations and calculations.

CiviDocs analyzes uploaded reports, drawings, and specifications to extract insights, summarize requirements, and support compliance checks.

In parallel, CiviRender transforms engineering inputs into visual outputs that support concept understanding and design communication.

Together, these tools streamline access to technical knowledge, reduce time spent searching and interpreting documents, and improve clarity across design and review stages.

EDY – AR-Powered Digital Model Visualization

Italian startup EDY offers an AR-powered digital model visualization platform for engineering, construction, and industrial projects.

The platform transforms existing BIM and CAD models into interactive AR experiences, allowing users to visualize digital assets at true scale within real-world environments through mobile devices or AR headsets.

It processes model data to align geometry, spatial context, and metadata accurately on-site, enabling teams to inspect design details, validate constructability, and compare planned versus actual conditions.

Moreover, the platform supports collaborative viewing, remote access, and real-time model interaction to improve coordination across project stakeholders.

This way, the startup improves design comprehension, reduces interpretation errors, and supports faster decision-making by linking digital models directly to physical project environments.

Civilus – Advanced Structural Calculation Tools

Spanish startup Civilus develops advanced structural calculation tools for civil and structural engineers. The platform provides web-based modules – CrossSection and BeamSolver.

They perform deterministic structural analyses by processing geometry, material properties, loads, and boundary conditions directly in the browser.

They compute stresses, deflections, internal forces, and utilization ratios using established engineering formulas and standards, while presenting results through clear numerical outputs and visual diagrams.

Also, the tools support rapid iteration by allowing users to modify parameters in real time and immediately observe structural responses without external software dependencies.

Through this workflow, the startup reduces manual calculation effort, improves transparency in structural verification, and enables engineers to validate design assumptions efficiently and consistently across early-stage and detailed engineering tasks.

novl – AI-Powered Project Management Software

US-based startup novl develops an AI-powered project management platform for architecture and civil engineering firms. It structures the full project lifecycle by breaking work into phases, tasks, and schedules.

The platform also utilizes historical project data to automate planning, resource allocation, and budgeting. It applies AI to match teams to tasks based on skills, availability, and past performance, continuously updating schedules and workloads as project conditions change.

In addition, the platform integrates financial tracking to monitor budgets, forecast profitability, and detect scope deviations alongside embedded QA/QC workflows that standardize quality checks and issue resolution.

Axesse – Data-driven Construction Design Platform

Australian startup Axesse designs a data-driven construction design platform for engineering and design teams.

The platform connects directly to 3D BIM models to automatically generate detailed bills of quantities and continuously calculate cost and carbon impacts as designs evolve.

It processes model changes in real time to update quantities, highlight cost variations, and surface compliance implications across materials and design options.

Additionally, the platform supports option analysis, carbon pricing, and project-level aggregation to track quantities, costs, and emissions from portfolio to component level.

Through this workflow, the company enables early identification of budget risks, improves design cost transparency, and supports informed decision-making that aligns engineering performance with financial and carbon objectives.

Digital Adoption Check: Sustainability, BIM & Modularity

Within the broader civil engineering landscape, three trends stand out based on firmographic data – company counts, employment, and growth rates.

Green Cement and Concrete

• Annual trend growth rate: 1.25%
• Over 1600 companies identified
• 415 100+ employees worldwide
• 39+ new employees joined in the last year

Green cement and concrete focus on lower-carbon materials, alternative binders, and production improvements that reduce embodied emissions in infrastructure projects. The positive growth rate and large workforce indicate sustained adoption pressure as the industry targets more climate-aligned construction inputs.

Building Information Modeling (BIM)

• Annual trend growth rate: 0.22%
• Over 7700 companies identified
• 810 000+ employees worldwide
• 170+ new employees joined in the last year

BIM enables digital planning and model-driven coordination across design, engineering, and delivery teams. While growth is modest, the very large company base and workforce show deep industry penetration and continued investment in digital delivery workflows.

Modular Construction

• Annual trend growth rate: -0.35%
• Over 5800 companies identified
• 578 400+ employees worldwide
• 120+ new employees joined in the last year

Modular construction supports offsite manufacturing and prefabrication to reduce onsite complexity and improve speed and consistency. Despite slightly negative company growth, the large workforce and new hires indicate ongoing deployment across projects where schedule reliability and standardized execution matter.

Capital & Consolidation in Civil Engineering

The US Department of Transportation’s IIJA funding status shows that as of November 30, 2025, total enacted budget authority across DOT modal administrations was USD 567.3 billion. This includes USD 469.2 billion in grants announced, USD 345.8 billion obligated, and USD 201.5 billion outlaid.

McKinsey estimates private infrastructure assets under management reached USD 1.5 trillion in 2024. This indicates why asset owners and funds increasingly push digital delivery, risk controls, and lifecycle performance contracting into the engineering scope.

As a concrete example of strategic M&A tied to infrastructure and energy transition workloads, WSP agreed to buy US-based Power Engineers for USD 1.78 billion. The acquisition is positioned around grid modernization and renewable-related engineering demand.

To show that deal activity continues into 2026, Jacobs is acquiring the remaining shares of PA Consulting.

Our platform data shows that the average investment value per round is USD 8.6 million. This reflects sustained investor participation in civil engineering software, digital delivery tooling, and workflow improvements that support productivity and better project outcomes.

More than 130 investors are active in the sector, supporting a diversified financing environment across early-stage engineering tools and scaling platforms for planning, design, and execution.

Key Action Points for Civil Engineering Industry Stakeholders

• For investors: Focus on BIM enablement, engineering workflow automation, and climate-aligned materials innovation where workforce and company signals indicate sustained demand.
• For engineering firms and infrastructure owners: Prioritize platforms that improve design coordination, reduce rework, and strengthen project delivery reliability across multi-stakeholder workflows.
• For policymakers and ecosystem builders: Use hub concentration across leading countries and cities to guide pilot programs, innovation partnerships, and digital enablement initiatives that accelerate productivity and modernization.

Sources Used in This Report

This civil engineering industry outlook draws on the StartUs Insights Discovery Platform to map 9M+ companies, 25K+ technologies and trends, and 190M+ patents, news articles, and market reports. The scope is deliberately asset and workflow-aware and centers on capital program delivery, design-to-build handoffs, project controls, and materials decarbonization, rather than treating civil engineering as generic construction services.

The analysis also tracks how the market is being operationalized in practice: infrastructure programs translating into obligated budgets, cost inflation tightening feasibility thresholds, and digital standards shifting from pilots into baseline qualification requirements for major public and private owners.