European construction down again in November

Construction output in the 27 EU countries was down -4.2% in November, compared to a year previously according to new data from Eurostat. The building sector was hardest hit, with a -4.6% year-on-year fall, while the drop in civil engineering activity was -2.5%.

Of those countries that reported data, the biggest fall was seen in Spain, down -9.7% year-on-year. It was followed by Slovenia (-8.2%), the UK (-6.3%) and Portugal (-5.3%). Less dramatic falls were seen in the Czech Republic, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

On the positive side, several countries enjoyed year-on-year growth for the 12 months to the end of November. These included Slovakia, which saw a +16.5% rise in construction output, Romania (+13.8%), Poland (+7.0%) and Sweden (+6.1%). Bulgarian out put was up a more moderate +2.4%.