The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have published the latest data on construction activity. Output showed modest growth of 0.4% in February after showing declines in the previous two months.
Better weather in the second half of the month seems to have helped with improving levels of activity. On a year-to-date basis, construction output in the first two months of the year were 0.8% higher than the same months last year.
However, comments from the industry have expressed concern that investors’ confidence may be rocked by Trump’s tariffs and the resulting trade war, and this may delay decision making on some construction projects.
Monthly construction output is estimated to have increased by 0.4% in February 2025. This came from a combination of growth in new work of 0.3% and an increase in repair and maintenance activity of 0.5%. This followed a reduction in output in January of 0.3%, which has been revised slightly from a decline of 0.2% reported previously.
After falls in output in the previous two months, it is suggested that improving weather in the second half of February helped to boost activity. However, output overall remains relatively flat, as illustrated in the graph showing output in the previous three years.
Output in the first two months of the year were 0.3% lower than activity in the last two months of 2024. However, compared with the first two months of 2024, output was 0.8% higher this year. This was due to a combination of new work being 0.8% up and repair and maintenance activity being 0.7% higher.