Further fall in Europe’s construction output

May became the fifth consecutive month in which year-on-year declines were registered in Europe's construction output, according to the latest figures from Eurostat.

The statistical arm of the European Union reported that, compared with May 2011, production in May 2012 dropped 8.4% in the Eurozone and 6.9% in the whole of the European Union (EU27).

The largest decreases were registered in Spain, where construction output fell 24.8% year-on-year in May, while Slovenia registered a 23.7% fall and Portugal saw output drop 16.4%.

However, increases in construction output were recorded in Romania (21.1%), Poland (6.5%) and Germany (2.2%).

Eurostat said building construction output declined 8.6% in the Eurozone and 6.3% in the EU27, while the civil engineering sector saw output decrease 9.3% in the Eurozone and 10.9% in the EU27.

Month-on-month growth

However, a month-on-month comparison showed some growth. Eurostat said that, compared with April 2012, production in May was up 0.1% in the Eurozone and 1.6% in the EU27.

The highest monthly increases were registered in the UK (6.3%), Romania (5.0%) and Portugal (3.6%), while the largest decreases were seen in Slovenia (-17.5%), Hungary (-4.1%) and Spain (-3.3%).

Eurostat said May's building construction output dropped 0.2% month-on-month in the Eurozone, but increased 1.8% in the EU27. Civil engineering rose 0.6% in the Eurozone and 0.7% in the EU27 in May, compared to April.