EU construction output down 6% year-on-year in November 2012

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Construction production in the 17 eurozone countries fell by 4.7% year-on-year compared with November 2011.

Slovenia registered the largest annual reduction of the 27 member states at 20.4% in November 2012, followed by Italy’s and Portugal’s falls of 17.9% year-on-year.

Slovakia also posted a drop in construction production of 13.1% year-on-year for November.

The best performer among the EU27 was Spain, recording a rise of 10.3% year-on-year in November 2012. This is surprising, however, as the country showed index falls in the first, second and third quarters of 2012.

The second-best increase was recorded in construction output in Sweden at 1.5% year-on-year in November 2012.

By sector, the index showed a fall of 6.4% in building construction across the EU and a drop of 4.3% year-on-year in civil engineering output.

Within the eurozone, building construction declined by 5.3% annually in November while civil engineering output was down by 3.3% year-on-year.