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UK ranked second-best country to be a construction worker
Neil Gerrard Associate editor
The UK has been ranked as the second-best country in the world to be a construction worker, based on average salary, the cost of living and the rate of accidents.
It was beaten to the top spot by Switzerland in a ranking using safety scores from polls conducted by Lloyd’s Register Foundation and average wages using Numbeo’s and worldpopulation’s Cost of Living index. The ranking was put together by clothing marker Workwear Guru.
It found that UK wages, which stand at an average of $58,000 (£43,027), have been boosted by a post-Brexit shortage of skilled labourers. Meanwhile, at 8% the UK’s accident rate is one of the lowest in the world, Global Construction Review reported.
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Belgium is in third place, followed by the huge markets of the US in fourth position and Canada in fifth, despite accident rates of 20% and 22% respectively. The US construction sector is expected to grow 3.1% in 2022 and trade bodies have predicted that 430,000 jobs will have to be created to meet demand.
After the micro states of Luxembourg and Singapore, China is in eighth position – somewhat surprisingly given its low per capita GDP compared with the other countries in the top 10. However, construction workers can expect to make $32,000, the cost of living is a little more than half of the US and the accident rate is 9%. Added to that, China’s domestic economy is expected to generate $2.1trn in building projects by 2030, ensuring there will be no shortage of employment.
At the other end of the table, the lowest average wage for a construction worker – $875 a month – is paid in Uzbekistan, making that country the least desirable place in the world to work, with the exception of Yemen.
The most dangerous places to be a construction worker are Myanmar and Uganda. A recent report carried out by Uganda’s National Building Review Board found that only 6% of sites examined were being supervised by professionally qualified staff. Myanmar has the highest incident rate of 58%, more than 14 times higher than Poland, which has a rate of 4%.
The lowest cost of living is to be found in Pakistan and India.
More generally, the conditions of construction workers are set to improve across the world as capital investments that were put on hold during the Covid-19 lockdowns are returned to the drawing board and the demand for workers increases.
The January/February 2026 issue of Construction Management magazine is now available to read in digital format.
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