Impact of Supply Chain Disruptions and Inflation on the Construction Industry in the Arab States of the Gulf Cooperation Council

During the years of 2022-2023, the world economy encountered the significant challenge of supply chain disruptions due to COVID 19, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and government subsidies during 2020 and 2021. In addition, COVID 19 disturbed the balance of the labor market; many workers retired, changed professions, moved, etc. creating a shortage of workforce. The supply chain disturbance and labor shortage lead to inflation rates that have not been seen for 40 years. The construction industry is a significant part of the any country’s economy including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries which is composed of: United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sultanate of Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait. It is hypothesized that the GCC States are immune to such supply chain and inflation drivers due to the oversupply of imported work force and the economic prosperity that these countries enjoy. Is the construction sector, which is one of the leading economic sectors in the GCC region also immune as well? This paper attempts to examine this hypothesis through a survey designed to capture the opinions of construction professional operating in these states. This survey attempts to • Examine the impact of supply chain disturbance, labor shortage, and inflation on the construction industry in the GCC countries. • Figure out how the construction industry reacted to and dealt with these challenges. The findings of this research would give us a snapshot of the state of the construction industry and help the industry deal with the above-cited challenges. Keywords: Inflation, supply chain, construction industry, and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)