Construction has been one of the stronger aspects of the economy recently, including in the form of apartment, office and retail construction. But the construction of U.S. religious buildings has been depressed for years. This category of construction includes churches, temples, synagogues, mosques and other religious structures.
According to construction data firm Dodge Data and Analytics, construction in this category peaked at nearly fifty two million square feet of new space in two thousand and two. It then began a steady decline long before the onset of the most recent recently. Dodge estimates that religious construction will fall to a bit more than nine million square feet this year, down about eighty two percent from two thousand and two and the lowest level since records began to be kept in nineteen sixty seven.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, a confluence of forces is responsible, including declining formal religious participation and shifting donation habits. But there are indications that religious construction may be bottoming out. Last year, spending on religious construction fell more than nine percent, but it’s up by more than two percent so far this year.
