The slump in Portugal’s construction sector is deeper now than it was last year.
Data compiled by Eurostat show that construction was down every month over the last year save for a brief respite in the spring when it rallied by just 1.1%.
Portugal suffered a -5.7% drop in construction, which includes both building and civil engineering projects, for the year. This was the greatest fall in any of the eurozone states.
Italy experienced the second largest drop, -4.3% for the year while Spain, on the other hand, saw construction rise over the year by 14% - the eurozone’s largest increase.
Across the euro region as a whole construction grew by an average 1.4% for the year to October. The increase was due entirely to more building projects, as civil engineering works were down.
But everywhere this was against a backdrop of an almost constant slide down from the peak in October 2006.
The lowest point was in April 2013 following which there has at least been some upward momentum but far, far behind the 2006 high.
