Compared with January 2011, overall output in January 2012 dropped by 1.4% in the Eurozone area and by 1% in the 27 countries of the EU (EU27) according to the figures from Eurostat, the European Commission's statistics office.
Construction output in January was down by 0.8% in Euro area compared with December 2011 and by 4.1% in the EU27 area. In December 2011, production had decreased by 1.9% and 3.8% respectively.
In terms of the annual comparison, construction output fell in nine of the countries for which information was available, and rose in six. The largest decreases were registered in Slovenia (-19.7%), Portugal (-11.9%) and Spain (-11.5%), and the highest increases in Poland (+34.2%), Romania (+14.9%) and Sweden (+7.3%). Building construction declined by 0.9% in the Euro area and by 0.8% in the EU27, after +9.4% and +7.3% respectively for the annual comparisons in December 2011. Civil engineering decreased by 1.7% in the Euro area and by 1.4% in the EU27, after +9.1% and +12.4% respectively in the previous month.
Among the member states with data available, construction output fell in seven and rose in eight compared with December. The largest decreases were registered in the Czech Republic (-20.1%), the UK (-13.8%) and Italy (-7.8%), and the highest increases were in Slovenia (+17.4%), Germany (+4.3%) and Portugal (+2.5%). Building construction dropped by 1.5% in the Euro area and by 4.6% in the EU27, after -0.3% and -3.3% respectively in December 2011. Civil engineering rose by 1.6% in the Euro area, but fell by 2.2% in the EU27, after -3.9% and -3.5% respectively in the previous month.
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