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Published: 14/02/2025
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes quarterly data measuring the value and volume of main contractors’ new orders in Great Britain by sector and type of work. Its intention is to provide a forward-looking snapshot of both current confidence and potential future activity in the construction industry.
New orders decreased again at the end of 2024, but not as steeply as in third quarter
Total construction new orders decreased by 2.4% in 4Q2024 compared with 3Q2024, with £9.3 billion worth of work.
The decline was not as drastic as that seen in 3Q2024 (23.7% on 2Q2024), but the figures across sub-sectors were wide-ranging, from a 24% quarterly increase in private housing, to a 23.5% decrease in infrastructure.
And, although private housing showed the biggest increase, this was from a historically low base in the third quarter. The value of new orders in this sub-sector, aside from 3Q2024 and pandemic-affected 2Q2020, was the lowest since 2012 at £2.3 billion.
On an annual basis, new orders were down by 0.1% overall, with the biggest falls seen in public housing and private industrial.
The only increases in new orders were in public other, which includes education and health, and private commercial.
| Sector | Change 4Q2024 on | |
| 3Q2024 | 4Q2023 | |
| Housing public | 1.5% | -43.4% |
| Housing private | 24.0% | -4.4% |
| Infrastructure | -23.5% | -4.5% |
| Public – other new work | 1.4% | 8.7% |
| Private industrial | -19.7% | -12.8% |
| Private commercial | 0.1% | 15.1% |
| All new work | -2.4% | -0.1% |
Source: ONS – New Orders for construction: volume seasonally adjusted growth rates, by main contractor, by sector, constant prices, Table 2
Source: ONS – New Orders for construction: volume seasonally adjusted growth rates, by main contractor, by sector, constant prices, Table 2
Dr David Crosthwaite, Chief Economist at BCIS, said: ‘Although these falls are not as steep as we saw in the previous quarter, it’s still an overall decline.
‘We have to hope that the Bank of England reducing the base rate and the government’s growth plans have a positive effect on investor confidence and demand levels in the sector going forward.’
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