In the construction sector, seasonally adjusted production decreased by 1.0% in the euro area and by 2.1 per cent in the EU27 in March 2009, compared with the previous month, according to first estimates released on May 19 2009 by Eurostat.
 
In February, production declined by 0.6 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively, while
compared with March 2008, output in March 2009 dropped by 8.7 per cent in the euro area and by 10.5 per cent in the EU27, according to the Statistical Office of the European Communities.
 
Among EU member states for which data for March 2009 were available, construction output rose in six, fell in five and remained stable in Slovakia.
 
The most significant increases were registered in Germany (+7.6 per cent), Portugal (+3.8 per cent) and Romania (+1.7 per cent), and the largest decreases in Spain (-5.5 per cent), Sweden (-2.3 per cent) and the United Kingdom (-1.1 per cent).
 
Building construction decreased by 1.6 per cent in the euro area and by three per cent in the EU27, after -0.6 per cent and -0.3 per cent respectively in February.
 
Civil engineering increased by 2.2 per cent in the euro area and by 0.6 per cent in the EU27, after -1.7 per cent and -1.2 per cent, respectively, in the previous month.
 
Among EU member states for which data were available for March 2009, construction output fell in 10 and rose only in Germany (+5.3 per cent) and Poland (+0.1 per cent). The largest decreases were registered in Spain (-20.3 per cent), Sweden (-17.7 per cent) and the United Kingdom (-15.2 per cent).
 
Building construction decreased by 11.7 per cent in the euro area and by 12.6 per cent in the EU27, after -9.9 per cent and -10.3 per cent, respectively, in February.
 
Civil engineering increased by 0.2 per cent in the euro area but fell by 4.1 per cent in the EU27, after -5.8 per cent and – five per cent, respectively, in the previous month.