Skip to main content

Construction industry recovery continues

The latest report from Europe’s contractor association, the FIEC, shows that the recovery of the construction industry should continue, but at a slower pace. The FIEC reports a 2.4% recovery in activity in the overall EU construction industry in 2015 and forecasts an increase of 2.1% in 2016. “After reaching the bottom in 2013 activity is slowly recovering in the construction industry,” said FIEC Vice-President Jean-Louis Marchand, responsible for economic issues, as he presented FIEC’s annual statistics
June 15, 2016 Read time: 3 mins
The latest report from Europe’s contractor association, the FIEC, shows that the recovery of the construction industry should continue, but at a slower pace. The FIEC reports a 2.4% recovery in activity in the overall EU construction industry in 2015 and forecasts an increase of 2.1% in 2016.

“After reaching the bottom in 2013 activity is slowly recovering in the construction industry,” said FIEC Vice-President Jean-Louis Marchand, responsible for economic issues, as he presented FIEC’s annual statistics 2016. “In 2015 the increase in activity has finally been slightly higher than we had initially forecasted and the trend is expected to continue in 2016, but at a slower pace.” He added.

Marchand said, “Overall, EU total construction output amounted to €1,241 billion in 2015, which represents an increase of 2.4% compared to 2014”, reported Marchand. “This is positive, but we will still need time to catch up with the pre-crisis levels.”

According to FIEC’s statistics, developments in the EU show the following results overall

Behind the overall figure for the EU as a whole, disparities between Member States remain significant with Sweden seeing the strongest growth at 10% leading and Greece the weakest, at -15.1%.

The increase in activity in 2015 is mainly due to the 6.2% growth in civil engineering and 3.5% growth in housebuilding.

Rehabilitation and maintenance activity maintained relatively stable development before and throughout the crisis with a 2.6% growth in 2015. This has cushioned the construction sector. This trend is expected to continue in the near future.

Overall civil engineering activity in 2015 increased with a high growth rate of 6.2%, mainly boosted by significant infrastructure investments in the UK. The stronger the construction sector, the greater the demand for construction machines as well as materials. Clearly, a healthy civil engineering sector can help fuel jobs in manufacturing and supplying construction machines as well as sourcing materials such as concrete and asphalt, and driving forward the quarrying sector.

The level of employment in the construction industry increased slightly by 0.9% in 2015. But it should not be forgotten that over the period 2008-2014, the sector lost more than 2 million jobs. Altogether, construction provides jobs for 14.1 million people, which represents 6.4% of Europe’s total employment. This rises to 42.3 million jobs when including the indirect employment generated in related sectors.

In spite of the troubled period, the construction industry remains one of the major engines of Europe’s growth. It represents 8.5% of EU GDP and 3.2 million enterprises – the vast majority of which are SMEs.

Related Content

  • US asphalt demand to reach 24.3 million tonnes in 2019
    August 6, 2015
    US demand for asphalt is forecast to increase 3.3% annually to 24.3 million tonness in 2019, the vast majority of which is refined petroleum asphalt, according to a new report. Demand will be spurred by a rebound in building construction, especially for asphalt shingles. But in the much larger market of asphalt paving, gains will be supported by the efforts of state and local governments to maintain the nation’s aging road and highway network. Paving accounted for three-quarters of asphalt use in 2014
  • Wacker Neuson bullish with strong results
    May 12, 2021
    Wacker Neuson is bullish with strong results for the start of 2021.
  • Strabag Q1 revenue dips 7% but EBITDA improves 13%
    June 6, 2016
    Vienna-based Strabag reported output volume of nearly €2,257 million in the first quarter of 2016 financial year, a decline of 9%. However, Q1 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) improved by 13% to €-57.71 million. The order backlog also decreased on the year, coming to rest at €13,976.62 million on 31 March 2016 – an 8% decline versus the first quarter of 2015. The number of employees fell by 3% to 68,808. This reduction took place almost entirely among blue-col
  • French road roller market growth
    March 25, 2019
    The French road roller market has increased for the past three years and rose 37% in 2018. Growth was also strong in 2016 with +31% and then +22% in 2017. The market has exceeded 2,000 units. Sales were supported by distribution networks, but the road roller market is also a rental market. Renters were very active in 2018. Sales levels in general for 2018 in the road construction equipment industry were never higher, according to CISMA the French trade body for construction, infrastructure, the steel