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Adjusted for calendar effects, the decline amounted to 13.6%, while output dropped 11.4% from July on a seasonally and working day-adjusted basis.
The downturn was driven primarily by a steep contraction in civil engineering, where output fell by 34.8% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the construction of buildings registered a more moderate decrease of 2.3%. Across the industry’s main divisions, building construction declined by 7.3%, civil engineering by 41.2%, and specialized construction activities — which account for the largest share of total output — were down by 8.5% compared to August 2024.
Despite the broad-based decline in production, the value of new contracts signed in August more than doubled year-on-year, increasing by 123.1%. This growth was largely due to a single, large-scale contract in the field of traffic infrastructure development. Within the category, contracts for building construction dropped by 8%, while civil engineering contracts surged by 245.2%.
The total stock of construction contracts at the end of August stood 17.7% higher than a year earlier. Within that, the stock of building construction contracts fell by 10.4%, while civil engineering contracts rose by 35.7%, reflecting the ongoing imbalance between the two main construction segments.
In cumulative terms, construction output between January and August 2025 was 1.3% lower than in the same period of 2024, underscoring a challenging year for the industry. Analysts point to subdued public investment, tighter financing conditions, and a slowdown in major infrastructure projects as key factors behind the persistent weakness in civil engineering.
While the strong rebound in new contracts may offer some hope for the coming months, sector players remain cautious. The uneven recovery between building construction and infrastructure-related activity suggests that the industry’s short-term outlook will continue to depend heavily on the timing and scale of new state and EU-funded projects.
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