European construction down year-on-year

June’s production in the construction sector fell 0.7% in the Eurozone, and by 0.3% in the EU28, compared to the previous month, according to first estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In May 2014, production in construction fell by 1.4% in both zones, said Eurostat.

The June 2014 figure showed production in construction fell by 2.3% in the Eurozone and by 0.5% in the EU28 when compared with June 2013.

The month-on-month decrease of 0.7% in the Eurozone during June 2014 was said to be a result of building construction falling by 0.9% and civil engineering by 0.5%.

In the EU28, the decrease of 0.3% was attributed to building construction falling by 0.5% and civil engineering by 0.2%.

The largest decreases in production in construction were observed in Hungary (-7.5%), Spain (-2.9%), Romania (-2.6%) and Slovakia (-2.3%), and the highest increases in Poland (+2.7%), Germany (+1.2%), the Czech Republic and the UK (both +1.1%).

In the annual comparison, the decrease of 2.3% in production for the Eurozone in June 2014, was thanks to building construction falling by 2.0% and civil engineering by 3.4%, said Eurostat.

In the EU28, the fact that building construction fell by 0.2% and civil engineering by 2.7% was said to be the cause of the decrease of 0.5%.

The largest annual decreases in production in construction were registered in Romania (-13.1%), Portugal (-10.3%), Slovakia (-5.0%) and the Netherlands (-3.5%), while the highest increases were in Slovenia (+28.7%), Hungary (+9.8%), Poland (+8.0%) and Spain (+6.8%).