Hungary’s construction output jumps 43.2 in January

Output of Hungary’s construction sector rose by an annual 43.2 percent in January, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Wednesday.

Output of the building segment increased by 48.4 percent during the period. Output of the civil engineering segment climbed by 33.4 percent.

KSH said output of the building segment was lifted by home, school and factory construction. In the civil engineering segment, construction of highways, railways and utilities infrastructure supported the increase.

In a month-on-month comparison, output was up 6.4 percent, adjusted for seasonal effects and the number of workdays.

Order stock was up 108.5 percent at the end of January from twelve months earlier. Orders in the building segment were up 22.9 percent and orders in the civil engineering segment increased by 158.6 percent.

New orders were up 5.3 percent annually, rising by 35.0 percent in the building segment but falling by 33.5 percent in the civil engineering segment.

Mihály Varga, the economy minister, told public broadcaster M1 that the construction industry had not yet come up against capacity constraints, which he insisted was thanks to a return of skilled workers from abroad and people on government fostered job schemes entering the primary labour market.