Global transport infrastructure outlook 2025: Regions and sectors driving growth

With USD $49.9 trillion in global infrastructure investment needed by 2040 according to the Global Infrastructure Hub, there is a huge array of new transport infrastructure being built around the world.

This is being led by the post-pandemic economic recovery, urbanization and sustainability imperatives. But, as nations prioritize connectivity, resilience and decarbonization, investment patterns reveal stark regional contrasts towards major transport projects.

Asia-Pacific: massive infrastructure push

Insights from our 2025 Transport Infrastructure Outlook Report developed in partnership with Infralogic, indicate a staggering 54% of industry experts say the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Australia and New Zealand) is the epicenter of transport infrastructure growth. Rapid economic expansion and ambitious national agendas are fueling this momentum.

The research shows India has a huge number of massive national transport initiatives underway, with the Indian National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) set to transform the country’s productivity levels.

For instance, more than 35,000 km of the pan-Indian Bharatmala Pariyojana highway initiative has already been constructed, while the Sagarmala program is boosting port capacity to support trade growth.

Across India, urban transit is also scaling rapidly, with metro systems operational in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and new lines underway in Tier-2 cities like Surat and Kanpur.

Further east in Indonesia, the recently completed Trans-Java Toll Road has slashed logistics costs and travel times, while the 60% complete Trans-Sumatra Toll Road promises similar benefits. The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Rail, south-east Asia’s first, is set to revolutionize intercity travel by mid-2025.

There’s also plenty happening in Vietnam. The North-South Expressway (75% complete) is enhancing logistics efficiency and urban mobility is advancing with Hanoi’s Metro Line 2A and Ho Chi Minh City’s upcoming metro line. Revised public-private partnership laws are further attracting foreign investment.

Africa and Europe follow in Asia’s transport footsteps

While the lion’s share of transport infrastructure projects are taking place across Asia, 31% of respondents interviewed for the      research in the report highlight Africa and Europe as secondary transport infrastructure hotspots.

These continents have varying levels of economic development and also very different topographies. Accordingly, each country and region across Europe and Africa has very different challenges and priorities compared to their Asian neighbors when it comes to transport infrastructure development.

As its economies undergo a process of ongoing sophistication and development, Africa’s focus is on closing critical infrastructure deficits that hinder economic growth. To this end, mega cross-border projects like East Africa’s Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor and the West African Abidjan-Lagos Corridor aim to boost regional connectivity.

The LAPSSET Corridor of deep-sea port facilities, transnational highways and oil pipelines  strategically integrates landlocked South Sudan and Ethiopia into Indian Ocean trade routes, effectively creating new economic geographies.  The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor's 1,000 km highway network connects five West African coastal capitals, streamlining movement along a corridor that generates huge economic value.

These arteries will support trade across Africa by dramatically slashing cross-border transit times. They also help economies scale up by establishing standardized customs protocols and energy grids, while setting precedents for other trans-African transport corridors to be developed.

As the 2025 Transport Infrastructure Outlook Report notes, these projects are pivotal components of Africa's continental infrastructure blueprint, addressing structural bottlenecks that have historically fragmented markets and inflated trade costs. This infrastructure convergence transforms isolated national projects into pan-African productivity enhancers, projected to transform intra-African trade.

Nevertheless, financing for African infrastructure projects remains a hurdle, with heavy reliance on multilateral institutions, public-private-partnerships and foreign capital. Despite this, improving regional cooperation means the continental transport infrastructure pipeline is likely to remain buoyant.

Turning to the more mature European infrastructure market, projects are being dominated by the European Green Deal, which prioritizes low-carbon transport.

The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is a cornerstone of the European Union’s strategy to modernize rail infrastructure and achieve climate-neutral mobility. Established to integrate national transport systems into a seamless, multimodal network, TEN-T prioritizes rail as a sustainable alternative to road and air transport.

The development of high-speed and freight rail corridors across Europe is a key initiative under this framework. It includes the Baltic Rail project, which standardizes rail gauges between Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to improve interoperability.

In western Europe, cities like Paris, Berlin and Madrid are expanding metro networks, deploying electric buses and integrating smart transportation systems.

Finding solutions to funding challenges

There is a massive estimated $3.6 trillion pipeline of global transport infrastructure projects. According to the Global Infrastructure Forum, more than half the world’s infrastructure requirements are in Asia, with China, India and Japan the countries with the most urgent need for transport infrastructure upgrades.

This research reveals a global infrastructure gap of $15 trillion by 2040, with the Americas and Africa having the biggest infrastructure gaps. Addressing risk through better structuring of data management is one way to address this.

“Withholding critical project data during bidding stages creates inefficiencies and delays,” says infrastructure expert, Craig Covil, Principal and Managing Director, C2 Consulting. He notes transport projects tend to be larger and take longer than social infrastructure projects, which affects the risk-reward payoff. “The key thing is defining the project properly upfront. This means getting the cost and schedule right, running a proper risk assessment and making sure it’s budgeted correctly before going into procurement,” he says.

Financing gaps, especially in emerging and transitioning economies, also need to be addressed. “Africa’s reliance on external funding and Europe’s regulatory complexities highlight the need for innovative financing models,” Craig adds.

Looking ahead, technological integration in the form of smart infrastructure and digitalization are going to be key to optimizing the performance of transport infrastructure assets across all regions.