Continued gloom in European construction

European construction output in May was 6.7% down on previous year and only slightly better than April’s low figures.

Compared with May 2011, production in May 2012 dropped by 8.4% in the Eurozone and by 6.9% across all 27 countries of the EU.

Production in construction rose by 0.1% in Eurozone in May compared with April and by 1.6% across the whole of the EU. But the rise is on figures that had decreased by 3.7% and 6.9% respectively in April. Performance in the UK was up 6.3% on April.

The estimates were released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Among the member states with available for May 2012, production in construction rose in eight, fell in six and remained stable in the Czech Republic. The highest increases were registered in the United Kingdom (+6.3%), Romania (+5.0%) and Portugal (+3.6%), and the largest decreases in Slovenia (-17.5%), Hungary (-4.1%) and Spain (-3.3%).

Building construction dropped by 0.2% in the Euro area, but increased by 1.8% in the EU27, after -3.6% and -7.7% respectively in April 2012. Civil engineering rose by 0.6% in the Eurozone area and by 0.7% across the EU, after -3.9% and -4.8% respectively in the previous month.

In terms of the annual comparison, production in construction fell in 12 and rose in three. The largest decreases were registered in Spain (-24.8%), Slovenia (-23.7%) and Portugal (-16.4%), and the increases in Romania (+21.1%), Poland (+6.5%) and Germany (+2.2%). Building construction declined by 8.6% in the Euro area and by 6.3% across all 27 countries, after -5.9% and -5.1% respectively in April 2012. Civil engineering decreased by 9.3% in the Eurozone and by 10.9% across the EU, after -9.3% and -10.9% respectively in the previous month.

Source: The Construction Index

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