Hungary’s construction sector on a rise

Output of Hungary’s construction sector climbed 25.8 percent year-on-year in September, data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Monday show.

Output of the buildings segment was up by 22.2 percent, lifted by construction of factories, stores and homes, KSH said. Civil engineering output increased by 30.5 percent, supported by road, railway and utilities projects, it added.

In a month-on-month comparison, construction output dropped by 0.2 percent, adjusted for seasonal and workday effects.

For the period January-September, output was up by an annual 22.8 percent.

In absolute terms, output stood at 375.3 billion forints (EUR 1.17bn) in September and at 2,235.8 bn forints in January-September.

Order stock in the sector was up by 42.5 percent at the end of September from twelve months earlier. Stock fell by 4.7 percent in the buildings segment but rose by 58.4 percent in the civil engineering segment.

New order volume was down by 34.0 percent as new orders for buildings dropped by 9.3 percent and civil engineering orders fell by 46.1 percent.

László Koji, the head of industry association EVOSZ, said they are forecasting construction sector output to grow by 20-22 percent, a higher rate than their earlier prediction of 18 percent.

András Horváth of Takarékbank projected construction sector output growth at around 22 percent for this year and somewhat above 15 percent in 2019.

Featured image: MTI

Source: MTI