Construction output in EU down 5.8% year-on-year in September

Paragraph entered by Atlantic migration, in order for SteelFirst articles to display correctly on Metal Bulletin.

Among the 17 countries in the eurozone, construction output fell by 2.6% year-on-year, compared with September 2011.

Portugal was the poorest performer among the 27 EU member states, registering a year-on-year tumble of 18.2% in September, followed by Italy’s 17.8% fall and Poland’s 16.7% drop.

Slovakia and the UK also reported sharp drops of 14.9% and 13.1% year-on-year in September 2012.

Increases in output were at their highest in Sweden, with a rise of 4.5% year-on-year, and Germany, where production was up by 4% year-on-year in the month.

By sector, the index showed a drop of 6.5% in building construction across the EU and a fall of 4.2% year-on-year in civil engineering output.

Within the eurozone, building construction declined by 3.2% annually in September while civil engineering output was down by 2% year-on-year.