'Out of crisis'

摘要

The European construction industry appears to be back on its feet - speaking at this autumn's Euroconstruct conference, Pascal Marlier, a partner at strategy consulting firm Le BIPE, said it was out of crisis. Last year, the industry experienced something of a growth spurt, with construction output growing in all 19 Euroconstruct member countries for the first time since Germany's reunification, achieving an overall growth peak of 4.1%, by volume. However, the market might have reached its full growth potential since, going forwards, 2018 is expected to see growth of 2.8%, and beyond that the market is forecast to grow at a slower - though perhaps healthier, more sustainable - rate of 1.6% between 2019 and 2021. The construction market volume for 2021 is forecast to remain 15% behind the pre-crisis level seen in 2007 for the Euroconstruct countries. However, when the extreme situations in Ireland, Spain and Portugal are accounted for, the output is predicted to recover for the sum of the other member countries. In fact, with those three countries excluded, the volume in 2018 is on a par with the 2007 levels, and the volume should grow to exceed pre-crisis levels over the next three years.