Estimates released by Eurostat suggest that seasonally adjusted production in construction increased by 0.8% in the euro area in March 2015 and by 1.5% in the EU28, when compared with February 2015.
In the EU28, both building construction and civil engineering registered improvements over February 2015, rising by 1.1% and 3.1%, respectively. In the euro area, building construction increased by 0.3% and civil engineering was up by 3.2%.
The largest decreases in production in construction were in Spain (-1.4%) and Bulgaria (-0.7%), with the biggest increases in Hungary (6.3%), Romania (4.4%), and the UK (3.8%).
If the estimates are compared with March 2014, production in construction declined by 2.7% in the euro area and dropped by 1.3% in the EU28.
In the euro area, building construction fell by 4% but civil engineering improved by 2.5%. Meanwhile, civil engineering grew by 4.7% in the EU28, while building construction was down 2.7% on March 2014.
The biggest declines in production in construction compared to March 2014 were: Spain (-8%), France (-5.3%) and Slovenia (-4%). The greatest increases were: Romania (13.3%), Hungary (12.7) and the Netherlands (11.5%).
Adapted from press release by Louise Fordham