Euroconstruct estimates that GDP will grow by 1.9% per annum for the 19 participating European countries in the years 2016-2018, which is virtually unchanged from the December (Budapest) forecasts. The year 2016 will see the GDP of the 19 member countries grow by 1.8%, a forecast which is slightly below the 2% projected in December 2015, while growth of 1.9% is foreseen for 2017. Notably, the year 2015 was the first time in eight years that all Euroconstruct countries recorded an increase in GDP, a development which is expected to continue over the next three years.
Growth in total construction output for both 2014 and 2015 have been revised downwards from the Budapest projections last December, as 2014 saw output increase by 1.1% (as opposed to 1.3%), while 2015 saw growth of 1.4% (as opposed to 1.6%).
Overall construction output in 2016 is expected to improve by 2.6%, although this is below the forecast outlined last December. An unchanged growth forecast of 2.7% is estimated for 2017, followed by growth of 2.4% in 2018, which is an improvement on the forecast of 2% growth outlined at the Budapest conference.