Data published by Eurostat showed that in March the construction output rose by 0.1% per year after falling by 1.8% in February (revised from -0.4%). Economists had expected a decrease of 1.8% per annum. On a monthly basis, the volume of construction rose by 0.1%, slowing compared to February (+0.4%). Meanwhile, among the EU countries, the volume of construction increased by 0.1% m/m and fell by 0.7% per annum.
In the euro area, production in construction increased by 0.6% m/m for specialized construction activities and by 0.6% for civil engineering, but fell by 1.5% for construction of buildings. In the EU, production in construction decreased by 2.6% for construction of buildings, by 0.8% for civil engineering and increased by 0.5% for specialized construction activities.
Compared with March 2023, in the euro area, production in construction decreased by 3.5% for construction of buildings and by 0.3% for specialized construction activities, but increased by 5.4% for civil engineering. In the EU, production in construction decreased by 5.2% for construction of buildings, by 0.5% for specialized construction activities and increased by 2.7% for civil engineering.
Among Member States for which data are available, the largest annual decreases in production in construction were recorded in Poland (-9.6%), Slovenia (-8.6%) and Czechia (-8.3%). The highest increases were observed in Belgium (+7.3%), Italy (+3.8%) and Bulgaria (+3.7%).