According to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2018-2019/Q3 2018 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), having grown by 4.9 percent in 2017, EU construction output grew by a healthy 4.4 percent year on year in the first quarter of the current year, confirming that the construction recovery in the EU is firmly underway although it is taking place at different speeds across countries and regions.
The EUROFER report indicated that the EU construction activity is estimated to have grown by 2.6 percent year on year in the second quarter of this year. Only in the UK is construction activity expected to have weakened again - and rather sharply compared with the same period of 2017, due to Brexit-related uncertainty.
Construction activity is forecast to gradually expand further in the remainder of 2018 and in 2019, supported by the continued strength of private and public demand for building and civil engineering projects. The improved business climate, and overall benign economic conditions, will continue to support private demand for commercial and industrial construction.
According to EUROFER, total EU construction output is forecast to rise by 3.2 percent in 2018 and by 2.6 percent in 2019, year on year.