Europe’s construction output sees almost 10% drop

Falling construction output in Europe has continued, with January becoming the 13^th month in a row to register annual declines, according to the latest figures from Eurostat.

Compared with January 2012, output in January 2013 dropped 9.1% in the Eurozone and 9.5% across all member states (EU27). Slovenia registered the strongest year-on-year decrease at 22.1%, while large declines were also seen in Portugal (20.2%), Poland (17.3%), Slovakia (14.9%) and the Netherlands (13.7%).

In terms of sectors, building construction output declined 9.3% in the Eurozone and 9.1% in the EU27 in January this year compared to January 2012, while civil engineering output decreased 8.9% in the Eurozone and 10.6% in the EU27.

A month-on-month comparison also showed falling construction output. Compared with December 2012, output in January this year fell 1.4% in the Eurozone and 1.3% in the EU27.

Slovenia also registered the largest month-on-month decrease at 7.4%. Other month-on-month falls were seen in Sweden (5.1%), the Czech Republic (4.4%) and France (4%).

However, increases in construction output for the period were registered in Poland (5.3%), Bulgaria (3.7%), Germany (3%) and Portugal (1.2%).

In terms of sectors, building construction output decreased 1% month-on-month in the Eurozone and 1.3% in the EU27, while civil engineering output fell 3.2% in the Eurozone and 1.7% in the EU27.