Output in May was 2.3% down on April in the UK, while Sweden saw the highest month growth, at 3.4%. Sweden also topped the annual comparison between May 2016 and May 2015, with an increase of 14.4%.
Comparision of the figures for May and April show output in construction down by 0.5% in the Eurozone and down by 0.7% across all 28 countries of the EU (EU28), according to first estimates from Eurostat. In April 2016, production in construction had fallen by 0.3% in the euro area, while it grew by 0.6% in the EU28.
Across the year from May 2015 to May 2016, production in construction fell by 0.8% in the Eurozone and by 1.1% in the EU28.
The month-on-month decrease of 0.5% in in the Euro area in May 2016 compared with April 2016 was due to civil engineering falling by 1.9% and building construction by 0.3%. In the EU28, the decrease of 0.7% is due to civil engineering falling by 1.9% and building construction by 0.5%.
Among member states with available data, the largest decreases in production in construction were recorded in Italy (-3.6%), Romania (-3.0%) and the United Kingdom (-2.3%), and the highest increases in Sweden (+3.4%), the Czech Republic (+2.8%) and Slovenia (+2.6%).
In terms of the annual comparison, the largest decreases were recorded in Hungary (-26.6%), Slovenia (-21.2%) and Poland (-13.8%), while increases were observed in Sweden (+14.4%), Romania (+7.5%), Spain (+3.1%) and the Netherlands (+2.1%).
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