• 9.5% of GDP, 12.7 million workers and 3.1 million enterprises in 2019. The construction sector is a heavyweight in the EU27 economy. That does not come as a surprise: the houses we live in, the roads we travel on, the offices we work in, the supermarkets we shop in and the restaurants we eat in – all of this is construction. Ambitious recovery packages are imperative to prevent the sector from collapsing.

• Today we are releasing our annual Statistical Report which shows the current state of our sector and demonstrates its significance for the economy as a whole. Thanks to our national Member Federations’ statistical experts, we have collected figures on, amongst many other things, investment in new housebuilding, renovation and maintenance of residential buildings, non-residential building and civil engineering and employment in construction in 2019. At the time of writing we can only give a rough estimation of how total investment in construction might evolve in 2020.

• In 2019, total investment in construction in the EU27 amounted to €1,324 billion, which represented 9.5% of GDP. The recovery observed in the previous years continued in 2019 albeit at a slower pace with 2.6% growth. With the most important market share and a growth rate of 2.3%, housebuilding was once again the driving force.

• After a positive overall development in 2019, the construction sector had a good start in 2020. However, at the end of Q1, the COVID-19 crisis severely hit the construction sector in many countries. With countries lifting restrictions and ensuring that adequate health and safety protocols are in place, at the time of writing, in general, work on construction has resumed and companies are still benefiting from pre-crisis healthy order books.

• As construction activities usually show a delayed reaction to general economic developments, the end of 2020 will be critical for the sector as investments in new projects are expected to decline from autumn onwards. We therefore estimate a decline in investments in total construction by 8.5%. The situation might worsen in 2021 if investments in construction, both public and private, do not recover significantly. Moreover, due to losses in equity during the Covid crisis, companies will find it difficult to embark on new projects.

• FIEC’s Statistical Report can be found here.  
   

FIEC is the European Construction Industry Federation, representing via its 32 National Member Federations in 28 countries (25 EU & Norway, Ukraine, Turkey) construction enterprises of all sizes, i.e. small and medium-sized enterprises as well as “global players”, carrying out all forms of building and civil engineering activities.

Press contact:
Domenico Campogrande

Email: info@fiec.eu

FIEC - European Construction Industry Federation

Avenue Louise 225, BE-1050 Brussels / Tel. +32-2-514 55 35

Transparency Reg. 92221016212-42 aisbl Nr Entreprise : BE 0688919.140