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Published: 19/04/2024
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes monthly estimates of the amount of construction output chargeable to customers for building and civil engineering work in Great Britain, split by sector and type of work.
Construction output down by almost 2% in February
Construction output decreased by 1.9% in February 2024 compared with the previous month. New work output was down by 2.3%, while repair and maintenance (R&M) work decreased by 1.4%.
On an annual basis, new work output in February 2024 was down by 7.9% on February 2023. R&M output was up by 6.8% on the same period.
In new work, there were decreases in every sector, with public housing and private commercial showing the biggest falls in February compared with the previous month. On an annual basis, just ‘public other’, which includes schools, hospitals and prisons, and public housing were up on February 2023, with 5.3% and 2.7% increases respectively.
Private housing was the only R&M sector to show an increase on a monthly basis, with a 0.2% rise in output between January and February 2024, though all sectors had increases compared with February 2023.
| Sector | % change February 2024 compared with | |
| January 2024 | February 2023 | |
| New work | ||
| Public housing | -6.5 | +2.7 |
| Private housing | -2.4 | -16.1 |
| Infrastructure | -0.8 | -1.5 |
| Public other | -0.6 | +5.3 |
| Private industrial | -1.2 | -15.4 |
| Private commercial | -4.0 | -7.3 |
| All new work | -2.3 | -7.9 |
| Repair and maintenance | ||
| Public housing | -2.2 | +3.9 |
| Private housing | +0.2 | +8.6 |
| Non-housing | -2.6 | +5.8 |
| All R&M | -1.4 | +6.8 |
| All work | -1.9 | -2.0 |
Source: ONS – Construction output in Great Britain, volume, seasonally adjusted, by sector, Table 2a
Source: ONS – Construction output in Great Britain, volume, seasonally adjusted, by sector, Table 2a
Karl Horton, Chief Data Officer at BCIS, said: ‘After more positive news last month, the latest construction output figures are disappointing, though perhaps not surprising given the bad weather we had in February.
‘With high levels of rainfall – England recorded its fourth wettest February and the south of England had its wettest February since records began – the impact on construction output, including delays to planned work, highlights how vulnerable the industry is to shifting climate patterns.
‘Given that around 40% of carbon emissions are from the built environment, the need to reduce the industry’s impact on the climate is urgent.
‘Moving forward, dryer weather will certainly help to improve output figures, but the industry also needs confident investors to boost demand and of course the necessary workforce to meet increased workloads.’
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