Compared to December 2022, the indicator grew 2.4%
Production in the European Union construction sector in December 2023 increased by 1.3% compared to the previous month. Compared to December 2022, the seasonally adjusted value increased by 2.4%. This is evidenced by preliminary data from Eurostat .
Average annual construction production in 2023 increased by 0.1% compared to 2022.
Among EU countries, the largest monthly decline in construction in December was recorded in Slovakia (-10% m/m), Germany (-3.4% m/m) and Austria (-1.9% m/m) . The greatest growth was observed in Romania (+10.3% m/m), Poland (+8.5% m/m) and Hungary (+5% m/m).
Construction of engineering structures in the EU increased by 1.1% m/m and 0.5% per annum during the month, while construction of buildings (residential and non-residential) increased by 1.4% m/m and decreased by 2.4% per year /s.
According to final data for November 2023, production in the EU construction sector fell by 0.5% compared to the previous month. Construction of engineering structures in the EU fell by 0.2% m/m and increased by 0.5% y/y during the month, while construction of buildings (residential and non-residential) fell by 0.6% m/m and 2.4% y/m/s.
The stagnation of the EU construction sector has a negative impact on demand and sentiment in the domestic long products market. Since the end of 2020, construction in the EU has been in a long period of recovery thanks to significant government support, which has boosted demand for steel products. However, since the beginning of 2023, the European construction sector has suffered due to macroeconomic problems and market uncertainty, according to steelmakers.
Eurofer predicts that in 2024, construction volumes in the EU will decrease by 0.4% year on year. However, a positive growth trend of 2% annually is expected in 2025.
In 2023, housing construction suffered a decline due to the tightening of monetary policy by the European Central Bank (ECB) to contain inflation. However, a more positive dynamic was observed in civil construction, which proved to be resilient to these conditions, but was still unable to compensate for the drop in residential construction.
