EU construction requires boost

At the recent annual congress of the European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC), the body released its latest annual statistical report.
February 28, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
At the recent annual congress of the 6164 European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC), the body released its latest annual statistical report. According to FIEC vice president Jacques Huillard total construction output amounted to €1,186 billion in 2010, which represents a decline of 1.8% compared to 2009." Huillard is in charge of economic issues at the FIEC and continued, "Due to member states' severe budgetary constraints and the major crisis affecting the euro zone and impacting the investment capacity of private operators, the situation remains worrying in most EU countries, but we can see the first signs of recovery, which should give us hope. Also, it is clear that the EU and national stimulus packages have softened the downturn to some degree. According to FIEC's statistics, a further decrease has been experienced by the civil engineering segment. This dropped 1.1%, while a recovery in 2010 was forecast last year. EU employment in construction fell further by 5.8% in 2010, and a further decrease is expected in 2011. Despite these still weak figures, the construction industry remains one of the major engines of Europe's growth. It still represents nearly 10% of EU GDP and above 3 million enterprises and provides jobs to nearly 14 million workers, without counting the indirect employment generated in related sectors. "Looking ahead, total construction output is forecast to stabilise in 2011 (-0.2%)", added Huillard, "However, we must remain extremely vigilant: most of these stimulus packages have been insufficient to ensure a real and sustained revival of economic activity and a number of measures announced have finally not been implemented."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Samoter aims to galvanise Italian construction machine sales
    September 20, 2013
    The forthcoming 29th edition of Samoter, the Italy-based International Triennial earthmoving and building machinery exhibition, represents the perfect opportunity for Italian construction machine manufacturers to showcase their expertise to leading national and international industry figures. The keenly awaited show taking place alongside Alsphaltica in Verona from 8-11 May 2014 could provide a huge boost to the tough domestic Italian construction machine sales market while, also, boosting vital export l
    Read More
  • ARTBA predicts a tough 2021 for construction
    December 17, 2020
    ARTBA predicts a tough 2021 for transport infrastructure construction.
    Read More
  • UK’s cause for concern
    June 25, 2012
    Mineral Products Association (MPA) results for the first quarter of 2012 indicate a substantial reduction in sales of aggregates, ready-mixed concrete and asphalt, confirming new GDP figures showing that declining construction activity has triggered the UK’s latest recession. Compared with the same period of 2011, sales volumes of crushed rock and sand and gravel aggregates declined by 13% and 12% respectively in the first three months of 2012, and sales volumes of ready-mixed concrete and asphalt fell by 9
    Read More
  • Construction machine sales strong reports CECE
    March 17, 2016
    The European construction equipment market is performing relatively well in global terms. However striking regional disparities remain, according to the Annual Economic Report for 2016 from the European construction equipment manufacturing association, CECE. Data from the report shows that excluding Russia, the European market for construction machines grew by 3.5% in 2015 and it forecasts a slight increase in business for 2016.
    Read More

Highlighted Content