According to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2023-2024/Q1 2023 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), in the third quarter last year construction output in the EU increased by two percent, following an increase of 6.5 percent in the second quarter, both year on year, despite the continued rise in costs and overall increasing economic uncertainty.
According to the EUROFER report, gross fixed investment in construction in the EU in the third quarter grew by 1.8 percent year on year, which was the seventh consecutive quarterly increase.
EUROFER said it expects construction output in the EU to continue to increase during 2023, but at a moderate pace. Meanwhile it lowered its outlook for 2022 from the previously estimated 5.6 percent to 4.4 percent, reflecting a combination of bullish developments in the first half of the year and a considerable slowdown in the second. This negative trend is expected to worsen over the next three quarters, due to the long-lasting impact of rising prices, increasing scarcity of construction materials, and a shortage of construction workers. The overall economic slowdown due to the ongoing war in Ukraine is also expected to weigh on the construction sector, with drops between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2023.