Growth of the construction industry has peaked after some years of tremendous growth. The economic slow down has also hit the construction industry. This is one of the results of the recently punlished report Â'The construction industry in figuresÂ' by the AVBB - Federation of Dutch ContractorsÂ' Organizations.
Although total productivity increased to EUR 47.5 bln, but growth has slowed down considerably. During the period 1996-2000 growth was some 3.5% per annum. Last year growth was only just 2%. The decrease in job vacancies confirms the slow down in growth.
Profitability increased from an average 2.5% during the second half of the previous decade to roughly 4% during the last few years. Nevertheless no less than 1,500 companies suffered a loss during 2000. In 2001 645 companies want bankrupt, roughly 20% more than the previous year.
The total number of construction companies increased during 2001 with 6,000 to over 69,000, of which 61,000 are small to middle-sized companies with less than 10 employees. Total jobs in the construction industry increased with 40,000 to just under 440,000.
Delivered houses increased to almost 73,000 in 2001 (2000: 70,650), which is still well below the governments guidelines. Building permits declined to 62,000 (2000: 78,000).
(source: AVBB)
