“The construction sector has proven itself resilient and the forecasts for 2021 are encouraging. Still, the uncertainties mainly linked to public investment in many Member States mean that we cannot confirm this recovery in the medium term”, says Rüdiger Otto, FIEC Vice-President for Economic and Legal Affairs, commenting on the release of FIEC’s Statistical Report. “However, the European environment and climate agenda offers great business opportunities for the construction sector.”

The Covid pandemic provoked an unprecedented economic crisis and the construction sector was particularly hit in the second quarter of 2020. In some countries construction activities came more or less completely to halt.

While the lockdown hit all economic sectors, divergence emerged during summer with construction recovering more rapidly than others. Overall, construction suffered less than initially expected. In the end, total investment in construction declined by 5.8% in 2020 amounting to €1.4 trillion, equivalent to 10.7% of EU GDP. With a slight increase of 0.8% in employment, construction companies were safe employers last year providing jobs for about 12.8 million workers.

In 2021, investment in construction is expected to resume growth at a rate of 4.2%. Be it housebuilding, renovation, non-residential construction or civil engineering, all segments are expected to recover. Nevertheless, total investment will not reach the pre-crisis level. For employment in construction, a slight decline of 0.1% is projected.

Whether the recovery will be stable in the medium term still needs to be confirmed as construction activities usually react later to general economic developments. However, one thing is certain : the transition to a climate friendly economy will generate great business opportunities for the construction sector - be it renovating the existing building stock, constructing facilities for renewable energy or putting in place greener transport infrastructure.

ACCESS THE STATISTICAL REPORT FROM THIS LINK.