Romania’s construction works volume contracted by 2.9% y/y in May, dragged down by the 13.3% y/y plunge in the residential buildings segment and by the 6.9% y/y decline in the non-residential buildings segment, according to data published by the statistics office INS.

The volume of engineering work kept growing by 4.5% y/y. 

According to our calculations, the combined volume of construction works delivered by Romanian construction companies in April-May, a period that avoids the effects of different Orthodox Easter dates, increased by 5.4% y/y.  This marks a visible improvement from the 7.0% y/y contraction marked in Q1.

The non-residential buildings segment demonstrates the weakest performance this year, remaining on the negative side with a 5.8% y/y decline in April-May after the sharp 33.6% y/y plunge in Q1. The segment showed signs of fatigue when it advanced by only 0.9% y/y in 2023.

The more heterogeneous segment of non-residential buildings posted a decent 3.4% y/y advance in April-May after the slight 1.4% y/y decline in Q1. Last year, the segment grew by 4.8% y/y.

The civil engineering segment, bringing together various infrastructure projects, is the driver for the whale market’s growth in April-May and the best-performing of the three segments. The volume of such construction works increased by 12.2% y/y in April-May after the 6.5% y/y advance in Q1. Last year, the segment marked an outstanding 31.9% y/y growth.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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