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

  • Road safety stabilises in France in 2016
    June 28, 2017
    Road safety stabilises in France in 2016 However injuries from road crashes increased by 2.6% in 2016 to 72,645 when compared with the previous year.
  • India’s longest road tunnel continues apace with Atlas Copco support
    May 20, 2014
    The challenging construction of India’s largest road tunnel is part of a vital US$500 million project aiming to connect the isolated northern state of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the vast and highly populated country. Guy Woodford reports Travelling on National Highway 1A (NH 1A) in northern India should be the dictionary definition of ordeal. The single lane, narrow and winding road crosses some of the steepest, most treacherous terrain on the planet. The arduous route becomes especially difficult t
  • CCMA reports on an industry transformed (Survival of the fittest)
    January 6, 2017
    China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA) secretary general Su Zimeng presented the organisation’s industry status and forecast at Bauma China today. Mr Su reported that the Chinese domestic construction machinery market has declined substantially, and is still declining: The slide in domestic demand has been continuous, and inventory is still high, although lower than it has been. There are signs of stabilisation, and there are still challenges ahead, but CCMA believes the situation also presents opp
  • CCMA reports on an industry transformed (Survival of the fittest)
    November 28, 2012
    China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA) secretary general Su Zimeng presented the organisation’s industry status and forecast at Bauma China today. Mr Su reported that the Chinese domestic construction machinery market has declined substantially, and is still declining: The slide in domestic demand has been continuous, and inventory is still high, although lower than it has been. There are signs of stabilisation, and there are still challenges ahead, but CCMA believes the situation also presents opp