Euro area construction output suffers sharp decline in January

Euro area construction spending declined in January amid a sharp drop in civil engineering activity.

Total construction output declined by 2.3% month-on-month, according to Eurostat, with production in Building down by 1.4% and that of civil engineering 7.7% lower.

Output was sharply lower in all of the major economies when compared with December, with French production down by 3.5%, Spanish output off 3.8% and that in Germany declining by 1.3%.

That followed falls of 1.3% and 2.7% in France and Germany in the month before, whereas in Spain production rose by 0.8% in December 2016.

The Netherlands fared better, with production off by just 0.3% after rising by 0.6% in the month before.

Construction output in the Eurozone was 6.2% ahead year-on-year.