Europe’s construction output rose in July

Strong growth in some Eastern and Central European countries led to both annual and month-on-month increases in Europe's construction output in July, according to the latest figures from Eurostat.

Construction output in the EU27 rose 0.2% year-on-year, while Euro Area output rose 1.2% in July compared to last year.

The most significant annual increase for July was registered in Poland, where construction output increased 17.4%. Romania also reported year-on-year growth of 14.4%, while Spain saw a 12.5% increase and Germany saw 5.4% growth.

Romania, Poland and Germany also reported month-on-month construction output increases from June to July, 2011, of 3.3%, 1.2% and 3.2% respectively.

But the strongest monthly growth was reported in Slovenia, where construction output rose 10.3% between June and July this year. However, Slovenia was also the country which registered the largest annual fall in construction output, with a 26.6% drop reported by Eurostat for the 12 months to July.

Other big annual decreases were reported in Bulgaria, Portugal and Sweden, where construction output fell 13.3%, 10.7% and 10.2% respectively.

Month-on-month decreases were also reported in the UK, Sweden, Portugal and the Czech Republic, where construction output fell 4.3%, 3.1%, 2.8% and 1.6% each between June and July this year.

Eurostat said the civil engineering sector led Europe's overall construction output growth, with rises of 0.6% in the Euro Area and 2.6% in the EU27. Meanwhile, building construction output increased 0.8% year-on-year in the Euro Area, but decreased 0.7% in the EU27.