Private Sector Dominates Infrastructure Rankings

A new study of the largest owners of infrastructure, worldwide, shows 500 of the biggest owners hold fixed assets valued at $13 trillion; furthermore, 359 of them are in the private sector, having fixed assets valued at $9 trillion, or 69% of the total.

The study was produced by infrastructure design and management software purveyor Bentley Systems Inc., Exton, Pa. Released on Oct. 20, it is the first of Bentley’s “Infrastructure 500 Top Owners” rankings.

Greg Bentley, CEO, says the rankings are based on publicly reported values of net tangible fixed assets. Entities with a mix of government funding and publicly traded stock are categorized as private. Sources include public financial statements and third-party research. The analysis of the top 500 was calibrated against the next 1,300 owners ranked.

Bentley says the rankings allow for the ready comparison of investment across types of infrastructure, regions, and public and private sectors. He says they show that infrastructure is considered good business, worldwide, and predicts companies will find the rankings useful for gaining insight and opportunity.

According to the report, the value of infrastructure owned by the top 500, in 46 countries, is close to the U.S. annual GDP. It is equal to the combined annual GDPs of China, Japan and Germany.

The top five owners and the value of their respective infrastructure are: the U.S. government, $282.7 billion; Electricite de France SA–EDF, $186.4 billion; Gazprom (Russia), $161.8 billion; PetroChina Co. Ltd, $155.9 billion; and Exxon Mobil Corp., $139.1 billion.

Five countries top the list, and the number of top owners headquartered in each are: the U.S., with 166 top-ranked owners holding infrastructure valued at $4,241.1 billion; Japan, 58 top owners, $1,349.2 billion; China, 29 owners, $869.6 billion; France, 22 owners, $747.2 billion; and the U.K., 23 owners, $617.8 billion.

The report was presented in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, at the Bentley “Be Inspired: Thought Leadership in Infrastructure” conference. The full list is available at www.bentley.com/500

Consulting Editor Tom Sawyer began his journalism career at the Atlantic City Press, in N.J. The former ENR editor expanded technology coverage and devised ENR's popular annual photo contest. Tom has also written memorable special reports from disaster and war zones, often taking the lead when earthquakes and hurricanes strike. His technology, disaster and war-related reporting has involved trips to Iraq, Haiti, Japan and other countries.

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