Portugal’s construction sector continues to wither.
While there was a drop in construction, both building construction and civil engineering across the euro region of -1.8% for the month of February, in Portugal the fall was -2.2%.
The largest monthly fall in construction was in Germany, down -3.1%. Portugal and France shared joint second place for the worst decline, namely -2.2%.
The picture is yet more discouraging when considering annual output.
Portugal again exceeded the eurozone average decline of -3.7%. The country’s building sector shrank by -4.5% last February compared to February 2014. And 2014 was hardly a sterling year itself.
Germany’s annual construction slid back -8.1%, France’s by -7.9% while Portugal’s drop of -4.5% was the third largest decrease in the economic region.
Construction in Spain for the year increased by 3.3%, capping off a solid six months of healthy growth in the building sector.
For the eurozone as a whole, building construction declined -4% and civil engineering by -2.7%.
