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Construction industry in Europe - statistics & facts

The construction industry in Europe plays an important role in the economy. Not only does it create new residential, industrial, and commercial buildings for Europeans to work and live in, but it also builds infrastructure, and it maintains and repairs older structures and buildings. In 2021, the construction sector in most European countries made up between four and seven percent of their GDP. However, partly due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the size of the EU's construction turnover slightly decreased in 2020. Specialized construction constituted the biggest share of that year's turnover.

Specialized construction activities

The specialized construction segment encompasses the preparation activities for construction projects, such as foundation work and scaffolding, construction trades, installation of utilities, and finishing activities such as painting or glazing, among others. In 2020, there were over 200,000 specialized construction companies in Great Britain. While just 763 of those were demolition firms, which is another type of activity included within that segment, there were over 45,000 electrical wiring and fitting installation firms. Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) also made up an important share of the industry's value, with the European air-conditioning market alone expected to be valued at nearly 30 billion U.S. dollars in 2022.

How fragmented is the construction market in France and Germany?

After China, France was the country with most entries among the ten global construction companies with the highest revenue in 2021. That is indicative of the size of companies such as Vinci, Bouygues, and Eiffage, whose aggregated international revenue amounted to over 125 billion U.S. dollars. These companies have an important presence outside their home market, but their high placement in that ranking is also explained by the French construction market being very concentrated in a few powerful companies. The overall construction turnover in France was over 303 billion Euros in 2020, just about 2.4 times bigger than the international revenue of France's three biggest construction companies, as mentioned above. Meanwhile, the German construction market was much more fragmented, as the national production value of their 50 largest companies just amounted to nearly 19% of the construction output in the entire country.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Nov 28, 2022

Key insights

Construction industry turnover in the EU
1.69tr EUR
Number of employees in building construction industry in the EU
4.01m
Construction's GDP share in Germany
5.9%
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