The construction industry lagged behind again in May, the outputs of domestic construction dropped the most significantly this year

In May 2024, construction production dropped by more than 6% year-on-year. At a double-digit pace, dominant new construction lagged behind again. In terms of the production focus, work on engineering constructions slowed down by a fifth, which was the most since the beginning of 2022. Only the production of Slovak builders abroad maintained a growth by more than a quarter.

Construction production^1,2) in May 2024 reached a value of EUR 622.2 million. The sector failed to maintain the year-on-year production growth from last month and currently showed a decrease by up to 6.2%³⁾. After seasonal adjustment, construction production decreased by 2.8% month-on-month.

The sector´s negative result was influenced by the collapse of all components of construction production. The year-on-year decline in construction work in the decisive area of the industry, namely in new construction⁴⁾ was 12.3%. Construction recorded the same value in January and it was the worst result achieved this year so far. Repairs and maintenance of buildings also lagged slightly behind. Even the smallest component - other construction works - lagged behind by more than 18%. Domestic construction production represented more than 87% of the total output of the construction industry.

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In terms of the production focus, the construction of buildings slowed down by 2.5% year-on-year, but civil engineering works, which also includes the construction of highways, decreased by up to 21.2%. It was their biggest drop since January 2022.

The construction output of the Slovak builders abroad has grown significantly for the second consecutive month currently by 28.7%. Its share in total production was almost 13%.

In total, for the five months of 2024, construction production represented a volume of almost EUR 2.6 billion and was lower by 4.9% year-on-year. All three components of the industry ended in decline, with the dominant new exhibition lower by 7%, repair and maintenance by 2.3% and other work down by more than 10%.

When broken down by the production focus, construction output from the construction of buildings decreased by 4.6% and work on engineering constructions by 9.9%.

In total for the first five months, the volume of construction work abroad increased by 5.2% year-on-year.