CE Barometer for May 2022

The CE Barometer survey for May was undertaken during the first three weeks of June.

Construction professionals from 20 European countries took part in this month’s CE Barometer survey, which largely highlights current frustrations and a continuing sense that the future will be brighter.

In June, respondents compared current business activity with the previous month and, on average, found that things were largely unchanged.

The survey saw 20.4% citing improved levels of business, compared with 21.2% a month ago.

This small change was mainly represented by a shift to those who said business levels were unchanged, with just a 0.3% increase in those who thought business levels had dropped.

The overall balance figure – those posting a negative response, subtracted from those posting positive responses – now stands at -4.1%, which is 1.1% lower than last month.

While this change is minimal, it’s worth noting that this is the second month in a row to see a negative balance, which will doubtless raise concerns about the growing effect of supply chain issues, material prices and, of course, the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Looking at the state of business compared with levels 12 months ago, the balance figure remains positive, although reduced to 16.3%, from last month’s much healthier 36.4%.

It’s still worth noting that more than half of respondents (51.0%) believe business today is better than a year ago. Yet, there is a 16.5% increase in those who feel they are now seeing less business than at this point in 2020.

Only looking ahead do we see an improvement on last month’s figures (and that only fractionally), with a balance figure of 8.2%, compared with last month’s 7.6%.

Even here, there is a drop in the percentage of respondents anticipating business growth in a year’s time – down to 34.7% from last month’s 36.4%.