Private investors ploughed a record $413 billion into infrastructure assets and companies in 2016, a rise of 14% on the year before, thanks chiefly to low interest rates and rising prices.

But while the value total continued its steady rise of recent years, the number of deals held steady at 1,772. It has been running at between 1,700 and 1,800 a year  since 2013, according to the data provider, Preqin.