Eurozone Construction Activity Contracts for 12th Straight Month

Construction in the Eurozone contracted in February to mark a full-year decline amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest data compiled by IHS Markit.

• The Eurozone Construction Total Activity Index rose to 45.0 in February from 44.1 in January. The headline figure tracks changes in total volume month-on-month.
• The decline marked the twelfth straight monthly fall in activity, but at a slower pace than the previous months.
• The downturn was broad-based with the steepest decline in civil engineering followed by commercial construction.
• Contractions in France and Germany fell at record pace to offset the improvement in Italian home building activity.
• The contraction of new businesses received by Eurozone accelerated to its fastest pace since November, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Despite the latest figures, companies signalled stronger optimism regarding the outlook for the next 12 months.