The construction sector in Spain will close 2025 with growth close to 4% year-on-year, one of the best records since the 2008 financial crisis, and will be well above the major European markets, still plunged into a phase of stagnation. This is what the report “Euroconstruct Winter 2025: The Spanish construction sector, going against the tide” states, prepared by the Institute of Construction Technology of Catalonia (ITeC) in collaboration with the Federation of Construction Corporations, which highlights Spain’s differential position in the current European cycle.
According to the report presented this Tuesday, “the Spanish construction sector is experiencing a period of great dynamism, with indicators that show a clear upward trend”. THE confidence indices at historic highsTHE stability of construction costs and the turning point in monetary policywith the fall in interest rates, create a favorable environment for investment. Added to this is a transversal acceleration in real estate activity, both residential and non-residential, ranging from large corporate operations to the retail market.
By subsectors, the Residential will once again be the main driver of growth in 2025, with an increase estimated between 5.5% and 6%, in a context marked by structural housing shortagethe revaluation of prices and a greater importance of public promotion. THE Civil engineering will increase by around 3%, thus retaining its role as a shock absorber of the cycle, although the report warns that this dynamic could lose intensity in the years to come as the effect of European Next Generation EU funds is diluted and budgetary restrictions become more pronounced. THE rehabilitation will progress more moderately, between 1% and 2%, still benefiting from the latest aspects of the aid programs, while the non-residential will limit its growth to 0.8%, reflecting the lack of urgency to create new stocks despite the attractiveness of Spain as an investment destination.
The good performance of the Spanish market contrasts with the situation in Europe as a whole. According to Euroconstruct, the macroeconomic environment “still far from optimal”: Private investment continues to be held back by global uncertainty, high construction costs and the affordability gap, despite moderate inflation and lower interest rates. After reaching record production levels in 2022the European sector entered a negative parenthesis which extended until 2023 and 2024 and which, in part, will still affect 2025.
For this year, the sector’s overall production in Europe should be practically stagnant, with growth of 0.3%before entering a three-year period of more “normalized” recovery from 2026. In this context, Germany, France and Italy They are among the markets having the most difficulty emerging from the recession of the 2023-24 biennium. Germany, in particular, will remain the only major European country whose recovery is clearly lagging behind, while Spain, United Kingdom and Poland They remain at the top of the growth rankings.
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