ONS Construction Output in Great Britain: Increase in New Work Gives Growth in May 2022

The main points:

• Monthly construction output increased by 1.5% in volume terms in May 2022; this is the seventh consecutive monthly growth following the upwardly revised increase to 0.3% in April 2022; May 2022 is a record high in monthly-level terms (£15,053 million) since records began in January 2010.

• The increase in monthly construction output in May 2022 came solely from an increase in new work (2.8%) as repair and maintenance saw a slight decline, decreasing 0.4% on the month. 

• At the sector level, the main contributors to the increase seen in May 2022 were private commercial new work and private new housing, which increased by 12.1% and 7.2% respectively.

• The level of construction output in May 2022 was 4.1% (£598 million) above the February 2020 pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic level; new work was slightly below (£3 million) the February 2020 level, while repair and maintenance work was above (£601 million) the February 2020 level.

• The recovery to date, since the falls at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, is mixed at a sector level, with infrastructure 19.0% (£356 million) above and private commercial 21.2% (£524 million) below their respective February 2020 levels in May 2022.

• Alongside the monthly increase, construction output increased by 3.0% in the three months to May 2022, with increases seen in both new work, and repair and maintenance (2.4% and 4.1% respectively); this is the seventh consecutive growth in the three-month on three-month series, and the largest growth seen since June 2021 (4.0%).

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