After a difficult 2020 due to pandemic restrictions, the European construction industry is returning to growth. According to the findings, the recovery of the entire industry would be even faster than initially expected, so much so that experts have projected a recovery of pandemic losses as early as 2021.
Per Euroconstruct, construction volume will grow 3.8 percent this year, following a 5.1 percent slump in 2020.
Data on construction
During 2020, declines in total construction output were sharp in the 19 countries in the area, apart from Denmark, Finland, Portugal and Sweden.
Northern European countries weathered the decline better, while countries such as France, Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom, Hungary, and Slovakia suffered a drastic loss.
Precisely because of these differences, it is unlikely that all countries will be able to make up the 2020 losses equally by 2021. For example, countries such as Ireland and Hungary even expect further declines this year.
In contrast, in Portugal (the only growing country in southern Europe) and the northern states (Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway), the trend is upward.
However, the 2020 decline was less than expected, and experts estimate a return to pre-crisis levels in 2022.
Compared to this figure, however, it must be said that the construction sector will have lower growth than the overall economy:the growth rates of the construction sector in 2022 and 2023 will be 3 percent and 2.1 percent, while the Euroconstruct economies will grow by 4.4 percent and 2 percent.
With respect to activity segments, the worst off is nonresidential construction, which is more affected by the Covid effect and is destined for a slower recovery; in contrast, residential construction will still experience growth, albeit less strongly than pre-pandemic.
