Although the U.S. has only 5% of the world's total population, it has about 25% of the world's incarcerated population. The number of inmates has tripled since 1980, and with many correctional facilities overcrowded and in poor condition, the demand for new construction and renovation projects has been strong.
Annual construction starts for these project types reached $3.8 billion in 2007, according to McGraw Hill Construction Dodge data. Since the global financial crisis, starts have slowed to about $2 billion a year, likely due more to financing challenges than slackening demand. In fact, Dodge data shows a current backlog of almost $5 billion in deferred or abandoned projects.