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Monthly Construction Output is Estimated to have Increased 2.4% in Volume Terms in February 2023
Monthly construction output is estimated to have increased 2.4% in volume terms in February 2023; this follows a 1.7% fall in January 2023, with February 2023 being the highest monthly value in level terms (£15,558 million) since records began in January 2010.
The increase in monthly construction output came from increases in both repair and maintenance (4.5%) and new work (1.1%) on the month.
Anecdotal evidence suggested several reasons for the increase in February 2023; it was partially driven by a bounce back from the fall in January 2023, but also continued strength across repair and maintenance sectors; many firms also noted an improvement of weather in February, which allowed them to get more work done.
At the sector level, eight out of the nine sectors saw a rise in February 2023, with the main contributors to the monthly increase seen in private housing repair and maintenance, and non-housing repair and maintenance, which increased 5.0% and 3.7%, respectively.
Alongside the monthly increase, construction output saw an increase of 0.9% in the three months to February 2023; this is the sixth period of consecutive growth in the three-month-on-three-month series; the increase came solely from a rise in repair and maintenance (3.1%), as new work saw a decrease (0.5% fall).
The main positive contributors to the increase in the three months to February 2023 were non-housing repair and maintenance (5.5%) and infrastructure new work (2.8%); with the main negative contributor being private new housing (4.4% fall), despite the increase on the month; anecdotal evidence suggested a general slowdown in housing across recent months.
Read the full DBT Construction Dashboard here.
Download the ONS Construction Update here.
