Data published by Eurostat showed that in January the construction output increased by 0.8% per year, slowing sharply compared to December (+1.9%). Economists had expected an increase of 2.0% per annum. On a monthly basis, the volume of construction rose by 0.5% after a similar increase in December. Meanwhile, among the EU countries, the volume of construction fell by 1.0% m/m and increased by 0.1% per annum.
In the euro area, production in construction decreased by 2.1% m/m for construction of buildings, increased by 1.0% m/m for civil engineering and rose by 0.5% m/m for specialized construction activities. In the EU, production in construction decreased by 2.7% m/m for construction of buildings, fell by 0.8% m/m for civil engineering and increased by 0.5% m/m for specialized construction activities.
Compared with January 2023, in the euro area, production in construction decreased by 2.4% for construction of buildings, increased by 2.8% for civil engineering and rose by 0.9% for specialized construction activities. In the EU, production in construction decreased by 2.9% for construction of buildings, increased by 1.8% for civil engineering and rose by 0.7% for specialized construction activities.
Among Member States, the highest annual increases in production in construction were recorded in Hungary (+17.1%), Spain (+15.1%) and Portugal (+3.9%). The largest decreases were observed in the Netherlands (-15.7%), Romania (-14.7%) and Slovakia (-12.8%).