Commercial construction booms in the East - public construction weakens

Growth in commercial and residential construction - decline in public construction

The strongest growth was recorded in commercial construction (up 33.4 percent) and residential construction (up 13.9 percent). In public construction, incoming orders amounted to 6.0 billion euros, falling short of the previous year's result by 1.1 percent in nominal terms. Orders in road construction fell by 10.4 percent to 2.9 billion euros. "The result signals an economic upturn in the eastern German construction industry, driven by strong commercial construction with the simultaneous dampening effect of declining public construction orders," emphasized Momberg.

According to the association, the turnover of eastern German construction companies amounted to 16.2 billion euros in the first three quarters. That is an increase of 1.2 percent. However, if the price increase is included in the revenues, the bottom line is a decline of 2.5 percent.

The Construction Industry Association East represents the interests of 260 construction companies with 20,000 employees in the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.