Romania, Czechia, Slovenia, Sweden report highest rises in December 2019 production in construction in EU

Romania, Czechia, Slovenia, and Sweden reported the highest rises in December 2019 production in construction among the 27 member states of the European Union (EU), according to data released on Wednesday by the EU Eurostat statistics office.

In December 2019 compared with November 2019, seasonally adjusted production in the construction sector decreased by 3.1% in the euro area (EA19) and by 2.8% in the EU27.

In November 2019, production in construction increased by 0.7% in the euro area and by 0.8% in the EU27.

In December 2019 compared with December 2018, production in construction fell by 3.7% in the euro area and by 2.6% in the EU27.

The average production in construction for the year 2019, compared with 2018, increased by 1.8% in the euro area and by 2.4% in the EU27.

In the euro area in December 2019, compared with November 2019, building construction decreased by 3.6% and civil engineering by 1.4%.

Among member states for which data are available, the largest decreases in production in construction were recorded in Germany (-8.7%), Poland (-3.4%) and Hungary (-3.0%). Increases were observed in Slovakia (+3.4%), Czechia (+1.6%) and Sweden (+0.3%).

In the euro area in December 2019, compared with December 2018, building construction decreased by 4.6% while civil engineering increased by 0.9%.

Among Member States for which data are available, the largest decreases in production in construction were observed in Belgium (-6.5%), Spain (-6.2%) and Poland (-5.5%). The highest increases were recorded in Romania (+23.1%), Czechia (+6.2%), Slovenia and Sweden (both +2.9%).