With economic conditions set to deteriorate in the coming months, as much of Western Europe has been placed under strict lockdown, the construction industry is set to face severe disruption. Leading data and analytics company GlobalData has revised its forecast for the Western Europe construction industry, with a contraction of 1.9% expected.

GlobalData’s report, ‘Global Construction Outlook to 2024 – COVID-19 Impact’, reveals that the commercial sector, in particular tourism and hospitality, are likely to experience a sharp downturn in the coming months. Projects in this sector are likely to come to a complete halt due to a lack of financing across Western Europe. Residential construction will also struggle, as the expected increase in unemployment and household debt across the region are likely to severely stifle demand.

Moustafa Ali, Economist at GlobalData, comments: “The economic outlook for the region has significantly weakened in the past month, according to market consensus. The region is set for a recession in the first half of the year. Major markets such as Germany, France, Italy and the UK are all set for negative growth in 2020.”