The road to recovery

摘要

While there were no illusions at this year's European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC) Annual Congress over how deep and painful the recession has been for the industry, the mood among construction leaders was by no means all doom and gloom. Attendees at the event held in Sofia, Bulgaria, heard that the EU's total construction output in 2010 declined -1,8% year-on-year to € 1186 billion - a drop that was fuelled by decline of the private non-residential segment (-4,5%) and the new house building segment (-1,2%). But despite last year's weak figures, the construction industry has remained one of the major engines of Europe's growth. It still represents 10% of EU GDP (gross domestic product) and over 3 million enterprises, providing jobs to at least 14 million workers.