1. Main points
Construction output is estimated to have fallen by 0.1% in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2024, compared with Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2024; this came solely from a decrease in new work (0.5% fall), as repair and maintenance grew by 0.4%.
Monthly construction output is estimated to have grown by 0.5% in June 2024; this came from rises in both new work (0.9%), and repair and maintenance (0.1%).
At the sector level, seven out of the nine sectors grew in June 2024, with the main contributors to the monthly increase from non-housing repair and maintenance, and private commercial new work, which grew by 3.2% and 2.1%, respectively.
Total construction new orders grew by 16.5% (£1,771 million) in Quarter 2 2024, compared with Quarter 1 2024; this quarterly increase mainly came from private commercial new work, and infrastructure new work, which grew by 15.1% (£503 million) and 23.4% (£389 million), respectively.
The annual rate of construction output price growth was 1.9% in the 12 months to June 2024.
2. Construction output in June 2024
Monthly construction output is estimated to have grown by 0.5% in volume terms in June 2024. This follows growth of 1.7% (revised from 1.9%) in monthly construction output in May 2024. Monthly construction output for April was revised up by 0.1%, to negative 1.0%.
There were mixed effects from rain delaying work, but also warmer weather leading to an increase in output in some areas in June, according to anecdotal evidence from our Monthly Business Survey for Construction and Allied Trades (MBS). The Met Office confirmed in their Monthly climate summary (PDF, 4.6MB) that there were scattered showers throughout June; some areas of the country reached high temperatures, but mainly June was cooler than May on average. Additional comments from the MBS referenced an effect from customers holding off on spending during the general election period.
Figure 1: The monthly all work construction output index increased on the month in June 2024, from rises in new work (0.9%), and repair and maintenance (0.1%)
Monthly all work index, chained volume measure, seasonally adjusted, Great Britain, January 2010 to June 2024
Source: Construction Output and Employment data from the Office for National Statistics
Download this chart Figure 1: The monthly all work construction output index increased on the month in June 2024, from rises in new work (0.9%), and repair and maintenance (0.1%)
Image.csv.xls
Detailed growth rates
Type of work | Value £ million | Most recent month on the previous month | Most recent month on year | Most recent three- months on three- months | Most recent three- months on year | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total all work | 15,463 | 0.5 | -1.7 | -0.1 | -1.0 | |
Total all new work | 8,725 | 0.9 | -6.6 | -0.5 | -6.4 | |
Total repair and maintenance | 6,738 | 0.1 | 5.5 | 0.4 | 6.8 | |
New housing | ||||||
Public | 423 | -2.1 | -7.6 | -8.2 | -6.8 | |
Private | 2,787 | 0.1 | -8.3 | -0.8 | -8.4 | |
Other new work | ||||||
Infrastructure | 2,224 | 0.2 | -12.2 | -0.6 | -10.5 | |
Public | 835 | 3.5 | -2.2 | 2.5 | -3.1 | |
Private industrial | 539 | 1.5 | -3.2 | 0.3 | -7.2 | |
Private commercial | 1,916 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.1 | |
Repair and maintenance | ||||||
Public housing | 648 | 1.5 | 2.6 | -0.7 | 2.1 | |
Private housing | 2,607 | -4.1 | 3.0 | -2.6 | 6.8 | |
Non-housing | 3,483 | 3.2 | 8.0 | 3.0 | 7.7 |
Download this table Table 1: Construction output main figures, June 2024, Great Britain
.xls.csv
Quarter-on-quarter construction output growth in Quarter 2 2024
Construction output fell by 0.1% (£68 million) in Quarter 2 2024. The quarterly fall came solely from a decrease in new work (0.5% fall), as repair and maintenance increased by 0.4%.
The fall in Quarter 2 2024 came solely from a 1.0% decrease in April 2024. Anecdotal evidence suggested heavy rainfall and strong winds affected output in April.
Figure 2: All work fell in April to June 2024 (0.1%), mainly from private housing repair and maintenance
Contributions to quarterly growth (Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2024 compared with Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2024) chained volume measure, seasonally adjusted, Great Britain, percentage points
Source: Construction Output and Employment data from the Office for National Statistics
Notes:
- Sector estimates may not sum because of rounding.
Download this chart Figure 2: All work fell in April to June 2024 (0.1%), mainly from private housing repair and maintenance
Image.csv.xls
Of the nine sectors, five fell in Quarter 2 2024, with the largest contributors being private housing repair and maintenance, and public new housing. These sectors fell by 2.6% (£216 million) and 8.2% (£112 million), respectively.
The largest positive contributor was non-housing repair and maintenance, which grew by 3.0% (£300 million).
Figure 3: The quarterly series saw three periods of consecutive decreases, with contributions from new work, and repair and maintenance
Quarter-on-quarter contributions to all work growth, chained volume measure, seasonally adjusted, Great Britain, Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2021 to Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2024
Source: Construction Output and Employment data from the Office for National Statistics
Download this chart Figure 3: The quarterly series saw three periods of consecutive decreases, with contributions from new work, and repair and maintenance
Image.csv.xls
Month-on-month construction output growth in June 2024
The 0.5% growth in construction output in June 2024 represents an increase of £79 million, compared with May 2024. Seven out of the nine sectors saw growth on the month. The volume in June 2024 was £15,463 million.
Figure 4: All work saw a rise on the month in June 2024 (0.5%), with seven out of the nine sectors showing increases
Contributions to monthly growth (June 2024 compared with May 2024), chained volume measure, seasonally adjusted, Great Britain, percentage points
Source: Construction Output and Employment data from the Office for National Statistics
Notes:
- Sector estimates may not sum because of rounding.
Download this chart Figure 4: All work saw a rise on the month in June 2024 (0.5%), with seven out of the nine sectors showing increases
Image.csv.xls
Non-housing repair and maintenance, and private commercial new work were the largest positive contributors to the monthly increase in June 2024. They increased by 3.2% (£107 million) and 2.1% (£40 million), respectively.
Back to table of contents3. New orders in the construction industry in Quarter 2 2024
In Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2024, total construction new orders grew by 16.5% (£1,771 million), compared with Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2024. This follows an increase of 17.7% in Quarter 1 2024, compared with Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2023. Quarter 2 2024 had the highest level of total construction new orders (£12,514 million) since Quarter 4 2022 (£13,032 million). More information can be found in our New orders in the construction industry dataset.
Other new work (non-housing) new orders was the largest contributor to the increase in Quarter 2 2024, growing by 15.9% (£1,269 million). This mainly came from private commercial new orders, which grew by 15.1% (£503 million) and was affected by rises in offices, garages and shops. The other main contributor to the growth in other new work was infrastructure new orders, which increased by 23.4% (£389 million).
Figure 5: Total new orders increased (16.5%) in April to June 2024, compared with January to March 2024
Components of work, new orders, constant prices, seasonally adjusted, Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2017 to Quarter 2 2024, Great Britain
Source: Construction new orders data from the Office for National Statistics, and Barbour ABI
Download this chart Figure 5: Total new orders increased (16.5%) in April to June 2024, compared with January to March 2024
Image.csv.xls
Type of work | Value (£m) | Most recent quarter on previous quarter | Most recent quarter on a year earlier | Most recent year on year |
---|---|---|---|---|
All new work | 12,514 | 16.5 | 28.0 | -8.5 |
All new housing | 3,275 | 18.2 | 5.4 | -9.5 |
Public | 434 | 94.2 | 13.9 | 7.2 |
Private | 2,841 | 11.5 | 4.2 | -11.6 |
All other work | 9,240 | 15.9 | 38.5 | -8.1 |
Infrastructure | 2,045 | 23.4 | 50.0 | -15.2 |
Public | 1,938 | 6.9 | 73.8 | 7.8 |
Private industrial | 1,435 | 21.3 | 16.2 | -24.9 |
Private commercial | 3,822 | 15.1 | 29.1 | -2.9 |
Download this table Table 2: Construction new orders main figures, Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2024
.xls.csv
4. Construction Output Price Indices in June 2024
Prices in the construction industry increased to 1.9% in the 12-month period to June 2024, as estimated from our Construction Output Price Indices dataset.
Figure 6: Annual construction output price growth slowed in June 2024 (1.9%)
Annual rate of construction output price growth, percentage change, January 2014 to June 2024
Source: Construction output price indices data from the Office for National Statistics
Download this chart Figure 6: Annual construction output price growth slowed in June 2024 (1.9%)
Image.csv.xls
5. Data on construction in Great Britain
Output in the construction industry
Dataset | Released 15 August 2024
Monthly construction output for Great Britain at current price and chained volume measures, seasonally adjusted by public and private sector. Quality measures, including response rates.
Output in the construction industry: subnational and subsector
Dataset | Released 15 August 2024
Quarterly non-seasonally adjusted type of work and regional data at current prices, Great Britain.
Construction output price indices
Dataset | Released 15 August 2024
A summary of the Construction Output Price Indices (OPIs) from January 2014 to June 2024, UK.
New orders in the construction industry
Dataset | Released 15 August 2024
Quarterly new orders at current price and chained volume measures, seasonally adjusted by public and private sector. Quarterly non-seasonally adjusted type of work and regional data.
Construction statistics annual tables
Dataset | Released 28 November 2023
The construction industry in Great Britain, including value of output and type of work, new orders by sector, number of firms and total employment.
Output in the Construction Industry – Customise my data
Dataset | Released 15 August 2024
Customise My Data (CMD) is our new way of providing filterable, explorable data suitable to individual user needs.
6. Glossary
Construction output estimates
Construction output estimates are monthly estimates of the amount of output chargeable to customers for building and civil engineering work done in the relevant period, excluding Value Added Tax (VAT) and payments to subcontractors.
Seasonally adjusted estimates
Seasonally adjusted estimates are derived by estimating and removing calendar effects (for example, leap years such as 2020) and seasonal effects (for example, decreased activity at Christmas because of site shutdowns) from the non-seasonally adjusted estimates.
Value estimates
The value estimates reflect the total value of work that businesses have completed over a reference month.
Volume estimates
The volume estimates are calculated by taking the value estimates and adjusting to remove the impact of price changes.
Back to table of contents7. Data sources and quality
Quality and methodology
More quality and methodology information (QMI) is available in:
- our Construction output QMI
- our Construction output price indices (OPIs) QMI
- our New orders in construction QMI
Reasons for revisions to construction output in this release
This release contains revisions to construction output estimates from April 2024 onwards, and is consistent with the National Accounts Revisions Policy. Revisions in this release are a result of:
- revisions in the nominal data; this includes revisions to the survey data
- revisions to seasonal adjustment factors, which are re-estimated every month and reviewed annually
- revisions to the input series for the Construction Output Price Indices (OPIs)
For further information on the revisions profile, see our Output in the construction industry revisions triangle (one-month growth) dataset and our Output in the construction industry revisions triangle (three-month growth) dataset.
Subnational and subsector construction output
Data on new orders supplied by Barbour ABI are used to model the breakdown of the overall output figures for Great Britain into the lower level and regional data. This is shown in Tables 1 and 2 of our Output in the construction industry: subnational and subsector dataset. More detail is available in our Quality assurance of administrative data used in construction statistics methodology.
Bias adjustment
Typically, since the move to monthly gross domestic product (GDP) estimates, an adjustment to address any bias in survey responses for construction output is applied to the early construction output monthly estimates. We show this in our Improvements to construction statistics: Addressing the bias in early estimates of construction output, June 2018 article.
Response rates for June 2024 showed improvement compared with levels in recent years since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The survey turnover response rate for June 2024 was 74.4%. This follows a response rate of 77.0% in May and 75.7% in April. We have continued not to apply a bias adjustment since May 2020 while we review this approach. More information on our response rates is available in our Output in the construction industry dataset.
Differences with Monthly GDP construction estimates
In Blue Book 2021, we introduced a new framework to improve how we produce volume estimates of GDP for balanced years as part of the supply use process. This was explained in our Producing an alternative approach to GDP using experimental double deflation estimates article. This framework included the implementation of double-deflated industry-level gross value added (GVA) for the first time. This improvement was reflected in the GDP quarterly national accounts, UK: April to June 2021 bulletin and dataset and GDP monthly estimate, UK: August 2021 bulletin for the first time.
As a result, volume estimates in the monthly GDP and construction outputs releases will differ for the period 1997 to 2020. This is because the construction publication measures the volume of construction work (output), while the GDP series measures GVA (that is, output minus intermediate consumption). Construction estimates will align, but on a growth basis from January 2021 onwards.
Information and indicative effects of this change to industry-level GVA volume can be found in our Impact of double deflation on industry chain volume measure annual estimates article and our Impact of Blue Book 2021 changes on quarterly volume estimates of gross domestic product by industry article.
Accredited official statistics
These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in March 2019. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics (opens in a new tab) and should be labelled “accredited official statistics”.
Bluebook 2024 publication update
The 2024 UK annual national accounts, also known as Blue Book 2024, will incorporate a number of methodological changes focused on data pertaining to recent years, along with the addition of more recent survey and administrative information.
On 7 August we published ourBlue Book 2024: advanced aggregate estimates article to give users details of the impact of the 2024 UK national accounts update on current price and chained volumes measure estimates of GDP from 1997 to 2022.
This estimates 2022 for the first time using the supply and use tables (SUTs) framework, as well as improving the estimates of 2021 with more recent data. We have also implemented outstanding classification decisions affecting the public sector, as well as improvements to the UK trade gas exports deflator. Additionally, we have updated the base year to 2022 after holding this fixed since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The next Quarterly National Accounts release on 30 September 2024 will incorporate these revisions in our official estimates in line with ourNational Accounts Revision Policy. These will be incorporated into our monthly Construction estimates in our release on 11 October 2024.
Until the Blue Book 2024 data are incorporated into our monthly Construction estimates on 11 October 2024, our monthly GDP estimates will continue to have a reference and base year of 2019.
Back to table of contents8. Related links
Construction statistics: sources and outputs
Methodology | Released 18 November 2022
A list of the known sources of information available on the construction industry and their outputs.
GDP monthly estimate, UK: June 2024
Bulletin | Released 15 August 2024
Gross domestic product (GDP) measures the value of goods and services produced in the UK and estimates the size of and growth in the economy.
Index of Services, UK: June 2024
Bulletin | Released 15 August 2024
Monthly movements in output for the services industries.
Index of Production, UK: June 2024
Bulletin | Released 15 August 2024
Movements in the volume of production for the UK production industries: manufacturing, mining and quarrying, energy supply, and water and waste management.
Construction statistics, Great Britain: 2022
Bulletin | Released 28 November 2023
A wide range of statistics and analysis on the construction industry in Great Britain in 2021.
Business insights and impact on the UK economy: 1 August 2024
Bulletin | Released 1 August 2024
Experimental data from the voluntary fortnightly business survey (BICS) about financial performance, workforce, prices, trade, and business resilience.
9. Cite this statistical bulletin
Office for National Statistics (ONS), published 15 August 2024, ONS website, statistical bulletin, Construction output in Great Britain: June 2024, new orders and Construction Output Price Indices, April to June 2024