Outlook both in the EU and wider global economy and political events including the UK’s decision to leave the European Union and upcoming elections in France, Germany and the Netherlands. These issues were highlighted at the 82nd Euroconstruct conference hosted by ITeC (Institut de Tecnologia de la Construcció de Catalunya), in Barcelona during November.

As usual, Euroconstruct issued their forecast of construction output in Europe at the conference, updating their forecast from the previous conference held in June.

The new forecast is for only 2% growth in 2016, six tenths of a point less than the previous estimate.

In issuing the new forecast, Euroconstruct noted that “Brexit has not yet caused a direct disaster on the European economy, but it has indeed lowered the midterm expectations, combined with a long list of other factors including China slowing down, Germany slowing down, uncertainty in the US, European banks still not out of trouble, and interest rates likely to increase”.