Spain Construction Output April 2008

According to data released by Eurostat today, construction activity, when seasonally adjusted, fell by 0.8% in the euro area (EA15) and by 0.4% in the EU27 in April 2008, compared with March. In March, production decreased by 2.8% and 2.7% respectively. Compared with April 2007, output in April 2008 dropped by 2.4% in the euro area and by 0.3% in the EU27.

Among the Member States for which data are available for April 2008, construction output rose in ten and fell in three. The situation in Eurozone countries like Spain and Ireland contrasts sharply with the large increases in activity being recorded in some of the East European emerging economies, with Romania (+30.0%), Slovenia (+23.3%), Poland (+22.8%) and Bulgaria (+21.0%) leading the field. Spain had the highest annual decrease for any reporting country (-21.8%).