FIEC: European construction to show resilience in 2022

A new report states that European construction showed resilience in 2021, with an increase of 5.2% in total investment.

FIEC’s 65th annual Statistical Report

FIEC, the European Construction Industry Federation, is forecasting 2.4% growth this year - on fixed prices - led by new housebuilding (up 4.6%) and civil engineering (2.5% forecast growth).

The organisation’s 65th Statistical Report said the fastest growing construction markets in the EU this year would be Slovenia (+10.4%), Spain (+5.4%), Ireland (+7.3%) and the Netherlands (+5.0%).

Germany is expected to grow by just 1.0% in 2022 and France by 3.5%. FIEC’s statistics do not include the UK.

The organaisation reported that total investment in construction across the 27 EU member states stood at approximately €1.6 trillion for the full year 2021, representing 11.1% of the bloc’s total GDP. 

The report also breaks down the main construction activities during 2021, with non-residential building (offices, hospitals, hotels, schools and industrial buildings) accounting for 31.3% of all activity.

Renovation work – a significant element of the European Commission’s commitment to the reduction of carbon emissions – accounted for 27.3% of activity.

New housebuilding stood at 21.9%, while civil engineering projects made up 18.0%.

Introducing the report’s findings, FIEC’s VP for economic and legal affairs, Rüdiger Otto, said growth in all segments was expected, albeit at a lower rate than in 2021, but warned that the combination of the supply and price of both construction materials and energy, along with the ongoing war in Ukraine, would be certain to have some impact the industry’s ongoing recovery.

Otto added however that, regardless of the many challenges facing the industry, “…it is important to keep in mind that the European environmental and climate agenda offers great opportunities for the construction sector. It is vital that the sector grasps this potential.”

The full statistical report can be viewed here.