EU construction output falls in March

Construction output in the EU27 fell by 1.7 per cent in the euro area and 1.1 per cent in March 2013, compared with the previous month, according to first estimates released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Compared with March 2012, production decreased by 7.9 per cent in the euro area and by 7.2 per cent in the EU27 in March 2013.

Among the Member States for which data are available for March 2013, production in construction fell in ten and rose in four. The largest decreases were registered in Portugal (-10.7 per cent), the Czech Republic (-7.6 per cent) and Slovakia (-5.0 per cent), and the highest increases in Romania (+2.8 per cent) and Spain (+2.4 per cent).

Building construction decreased by 1.4 per cent in the euro area and by 0.9 per cent in the EU27, after -0.3 per cent and +0.2 per cent respectively in February 2013. Civil engineering fell by 2.4 per cent in the euro area and by 1.2 per cent in the EU27, after +0.2 per cent and -0.1 per cent respectively in the previous month.

Among the Member States for which data are available for March 2013, production in construction fell in ten and rose in four. The largest decreases were registered in Slovenia (-31.8 per cent), the Czech Republic (-19.0 per cent), Poland (-16.9 per cent) and Portugal (-16.7 per cent), and the highest increases in Spain (+16.6 per cent) and Hungary (+9.9 per cent).

Building construction decreased by 7.1 per cent in the euro area and by 6.8 per cent in the EU27, after +1.3 per cent and -0.8 per cent respectively in February 2013. Civil engineering fell by 11.3 per cent in the euro area and by 8.0 per cent in the EU27, after +2.8 per cent and +0.3 per cent respectively in the previous month.