Data published by Eurostat showed that in May the construction output fell by 2.4% per year (the sharpest decline since February 2021) after a 1.5% decline in April (revised from -1.1%). Economists had expected a decrease of 0.9% per annum. On a monthly basis, the volume of construction fell by 0.9%, accelerating compared to April (-0.4%). Meanwhile, among the EU countries, the volume of construction decreased by 1.0% m/m and fell by 2.5% per annum.
In the euro area, production in construction decreased by 1.0% m/m for construction of buildings, by 0.6% for civil engineering and by 1.1% for specialized construction activities. In the EU, production in construction decreased by 0.9% for construction of buildings, by 1.5% for civil engineering and by 1.0% for specialized construction activities.
Compared with May 2023, in the euro area, production in construction decreased by 4.8% for construction of buildings and by 1.8% for specialized construction activities, but increased by 0.4% for civil engineering. In the EU, production in construction decreased by 4.8% for construction of buildings, by 0.8% for civil engineering and by 1.9% for specialized construction activities.
Among Member States for which data are available, the largest annual decreases in production in construction were recorded in Sweden (-7.5%), Slovenia (-7.4%) and Germany (-7.0%). Increases were observed in Hungary (+7.3%), Bulgaria (+4.4%) and Denmark (+1.1%).