In real terms, the Ukrainian construction industry recovered in 2015 after registering a gloomy performance in 2014 owing to the economic recession. Weak construction activity in 2014 was a result of various factors such as the country’s high public debt, widespread corruption and currency devaluation, which forced the economy into recession. Read More

The US construction industry suffered a downturn in 2017, contracting by 1.0% in real terms that year, following an average annual growth of 5.0% during the preceding four years. This decline can be attributed to the slowdown in non-residential buildings construction activity and the decline in the government’s outlay on major infrastructure projects. Read More

One of the major duties the Bank of England (BoE) is tasked with is keeping inflation rates low and stable. The usual tactic for keeping inflation rates down, and therefore the price of goods and services stable by the Bank of England is through lowering the Bank Rate. Such a measure was used in 2008 during the global recession when the BoE lowered the bank base rate from **** percent to *** percent. Due to the economic fears surrounding the COVID-19 virus, as of the 19th of March 2020, the bank base rate was set to its lowest ever standing. The issue with lowering interest rates is that there is an end limit as to how low they can go. Quantitative easing Quantitative easing is a measure that central banks can use to inject money into the economy to hopefully boost spending and investment. Quantitative easing is the creation of digital money in order to purchase government bonds. By purchasing large amounts of government bonds, the interest rates on those bonds lower. This in turn means that the interest rates offered on loans for the purchasing of mortgages or business loans also lowers, encouraging spending and stimulating the economy. Large enterprises jump at the opportunity After the initial stimulus of *** billion British pounds through quantitative easing in March 2020, the Bank of England announced in June that they would increase the amount by a further 100 billion British pounds. In March of 2020, the headline flow of borrowing by non-financial industries including construction, transport, real estate and the manufacturing sectors increased significantly.

Owing to the effects of economic recession, construction activity in the Czech Republic was weak during the review period (2012–2016). This led to the implementation of various government austerity measures which reduced the pace of investment in construction projects. The industry’s output value in real terms recorded a review-period compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.51%. Read More

In real terms, the Japanese construction industry registered positive growth during the review period (2012–2016). Construction activity slowed during 2014–2015 as the economy suffered a technical recession, which affected business confidence. However, the economy gradually recovered in 2016, driven by strong global demand and improvements in the country’s export trade. This accelerated the pace of public and private sector investment in construction projects. Read More

Israel’s construction industry suffered a downturn in 2018, contracting by 0.5% in real terms that year, following an average annual growth of 4.0% during 2014-2017. This decline can be attributed to low public and private sector investments in construction projects, slowdown in new home sales and deceleration in fixed assets investment in residential buildings. Read More

The Greek construction industry is projected to recover over the forecast period (2018-2022), with compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in real terms set to accelerate from -2.4% in the review period (2013-2017) to reach 4.7%. Investment in commercial, residential and industrial buildings is expected to drive the forecast-period growth of the industry. Moreover, government and private sector investment to clear the country’s infrastructure backlog, which grew significantly due to multi-year deep recession, is expected to provide some support to the industry growth over the forecast period. Read More

Prior to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, GlobalData expected Singapore’s construction industry to grow by 2.9% in 2020. However, with the emergence of the pandemic and the stringent measures taken by the government to contain the spread of the virus, the construction industry is now set to contract by 17.8% in 2020. The country’s construction industry recorded an unprecedented contraction in the second quarter of 2020, a period during which there was a complete halt of all construction activity, except for work on some essential projects during the “circuit breaker” period of 7th April to 1st June 2020. Construction value-add shrank by 54.7% on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis in the second quarter, and by a whopping 95.6% on a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) seasonally-adjusted annualized basis, according to the advanced estimates released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). The effects of the circuit breaker measures were also reflected in the overall economic data, with the economy officially entering into a recession during the second quarter of 2020. The economy shrank by 12.6% on a y-o-y basis, and 41.2% on a q-o-q seasonally-adjusted annualized basis in Q2 2020. Read More

GlobalData expects Nigeria’s construction industry to contract by 12.8% in 2020, and foresees that weak public investment, alongside limited foreign direct investment (FDI) amid the global economic downturn, will push Nigeria into a steep recession. The negative impact from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, lockdown measures and low oil prices has already been felt across all sectors, especially in retail and real estate. Read More