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| Europe’s construction growth in 2026 is lower than previously forecast The outlook for the European construction sector remains cautiously positive, but growth is forecast to be slower than previously expected. Since the Euroconstruct, Europe's leading construction market forecasting network, forecast in November 2025, the operating environment for construction has changed in many ways. In the EUROCONSTRUCT countries (EC-19), gross domestic product grew by 1.5% in 2025. Between 2026 and 2028, GDP is forecast to grow by an average of 1.2% per year. Growth in 2026 will remain weaker than previously estimated, at 1.1%; in 2027, it is set to be 1.3%. However, none of the EC-19 countries is forecasting negative economic growth. Total construction output in the EC-19 countries grew by just 0.2% in 2025. Growth was slightly weaker than the November 2025 forecast, which had estimated growth at 0.3%. In 2026, construction is forecast to grow by 2.0%, whereas six months ago the expectation was 2.4%. The growth forecasts for 2027 and 2028 remain unchanged at 2.2% and 1.9% respectively. Overall, construction output in the EC-19 area has developed fairly steadily in recent years, although 2023 and 2024 were years of decline. During these two years, output fell by just over 3% in total. The growth forecast for 2026–2028 is just over 2% in total, indicating that the recovery will continue but at a moderate pace. Construction trends across different parts of Europe continue to diverge significantly. In the Nordic countries and Austria, total construction output fell sharply in 2023 and 2024 and will not return to 2022 levels during the period. In these countries, the primary underlying factor is a sharp collapse in new residential construction. The strongest growth in construction between 2025 and 2028 is forecast for Ireland, Poland, the UK and Portugal. Growth is weakest in Slovakia, Italy and Belgium. Ireland continues to stand out as the fastest-growing market, thanks to strong public investment and steady demand. Poland is also benefiting from strong medium-term growth, although forecasts have been revised slightly downward. Spain and Portugal, in turn, are benefiting from broad-based growth in both building construction and civil engineering. Germany, France, Austria and Italy continue to suffer from weak housing demand, high costs and limited financing. write your comments about the article :: © 2026 Construction News :: home page |