The end of the construction boom

The year 2022 has got off to a very promising start for the Austrian construction industry. In the business survey results of WIFO, more and more companies reported a favourable assessment of the situation and a comfortable order situation at the start of the year. However, by the second quarter at the latest, after the negative consequences of the war in Ukraine for the Austrian economy had materialised, there was a visible turnaround in economic momentum. Employment growth fell abruptly to just 1.1 percent and 0.6 percent in the second and third quarters of and the third quarter of 2022 respectively. growth in real construction investment also also came to a standstill over the course of the year: with a decline in the second quarter quarter (-0.5 percent) and stagnation in the third quarter (0.6 percent). In line with the marked slowdown, the WIFO WIFO forecast for the full year 2022 despite the strong start to the year only +0.2 percent.