Construction output continues to struggle with a deep decline, the October drop was the largest in the last twelve years, construction output fell by 23,6 % year-on-year. This is the biggest drop this year and at the same time the worst result since January 2009, when the crisis in construction began after the financial crisis. At that time, construction output fell by 25,6 %.
The total volume of construction output in October 2020 reached EUR 486,1 million which is by 135 million less than a year ago.
In particular, the decline in the domestic market deepened, its pace accelerating for the third month in a row, reaching 25,2 % in October. Within the domestic market, both components were in a year-on-year decrease, new construction including renewals and enhancements by more than 25 % and repairs and maintenance by 22,9 %. At the same time, the pace of decline in repairs and maintenance has slowed from September. In total, works on domestic constructions accounted for up to 91,6 % of the construction production in the Slovak Republic. New construction represented about two thirds, the rest were repair and maintenance work and other works.
In terms of output specification, the volume of work decreased on buildings by 23,8 % and on civil engineering by 27,4 % compared to October 2019.
Production realized abroad also decreased, falling by 1,6 % year-on-year to EUR 40,7 million. Of the total volume of construction output, however, work abroad accounted for only 8,4 %.
In total, construction output over the first ten months of 2020 reached EUR 4,2 billion and compared to the corresponding period of 2019 it was lower by 13 %. Construction work of Slovak construction companies on the domestic market decreased by 14,2 % year-on-year, their activity abroad increased, compared to the corresponding period last year, it was higher by 5,4 %. In the structure of domestic output, decisive new construction, including renewals and enhancements, decreased by 14,4 % compared to the previous year, repairs and maintenance decreased by 15,6 %.