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Report from
Europe
Mixed outlook in East European construction
The latest report from the Eastern European Construction
Forecasting Association (EECFA) says the construction
picture in the region is mixed. EECFA says, Serbia’s
construction sector ‘sank into negative territory in 2025.
Residential construction is stable and non-residential
general construction is booming, underpinned by building
for Expo 2027. However civil engineering is on a
downward trend and a number of infrastructure projects
have now been completed. Future construction prospects,
says EECFA, are ‘dimmed’ by global political and
economic uncertainty.
Growth in the Slovenian construction has cooled but
output is steady at around €6 billion. Residential building
remains the sector’s ‘anchor’, says EECFA, with property
transactions rebounding early 2025.
Health and education construction remain busy and
positively civil engineering and public works, backed by
EU funding, are expected to hit record levels in 2026.
Bulgaria’s construction output is forecast to grow 3% in
2026, following 3% growth in 2025. Residential
construction is cooling, but nonresidential and civil
engineering sectors remain robust. The latter is forecast to
continue to grow supported by the EU Recovery
Resilience Plan.
In Croatia, the EECFA reports that property sales have
declined but residential output continues to grow ‘because
increases in prices per square meter are offsetting the fall
in square metres bought’. Civil engineering here is also
buoyed by EU funding and sports facility construction is
booming’.
Romania’s economy is described as entering a
‘challenging period’ due to new measures to reduce the
country’s ‘national account deficit’. Economic growth is
expected to remain subdued, while inflation is the highest
in the EU and government spending is facing cuts.
However, if the deficit reduction is successful, effects of
‘contractionary policies should fade out’, says the EECFA.
The EECFA’s Russian research institute forecasts
‘negative trends’ in the country’s building industry for two
years due to high interest rates and overall economic
slowdown. Activity is reducing in residential building in
particular. Stable growth in civil engineering is not
expected to be enough to ‘keep construction in the
‘positive zone’.
Measures to cut inflation in Turkey are resulting in
contraction in consumers’ disposable income hitting the
property market but Turkish construction is being boosted
by earthquake rebuilding and infrastructure projects.
Consequently, construction output is forecast to reach
€180 billion in 2027.
The EECFA’s Ukraine representative sys, despite the war,
the country’s construction industry remains one of the key
drivers of economic recovery. The country’s latest Rapid
Damage and Needs Assessment Report estimates it will
need US$490-525 billion of reconstruction work over the
next decade, ‘creating long-term demand for residential
and non-residential building and civil engineering.
The ongoing conflict, however, creates uncertainty for
construction output in the immediate future. “The sector’s
development prospects for 2026-2027 will largely depend
on the security situation and effectiveness of state
recovery programmes,” says the EECFA.
See - https://think.ing.com/articles/2026-outlook-growth-returns-
to-the-european-construction-sector/
and
https://buildecon.blog/2025/12/16/eecfa-2025-winter-
construction-forecast/
European wood flooring market stabilised in 2025
At its January Board of Directors meeting at DOMOTEX
2026 in Hanover, the European Parquet Federation FEP
reported that overall wood flooring consumption in Europe
in 2025 is expected to have remained stable compared to
2024.
Its view is based on preliminary estimates discussed with
representatives from member countries. At the same time,
FEP says figures may change once full data is available,
which will be presented in June at the FEP General
Assembly and Parquet Congress in Madrid.
“After a sharp drop in consumption in 2023, the parquet
market bottomed out in 2024, showing only a slight
additional decrease,” says FEP. “In 2025, the market
appeared to stabilise, though at a low level. The year
started relatively well, but activity slowed after the
summer. Costs, such as timber and energy, remain
elevated.”
It adds that the current market environment continues ‘to
lack visibility’, making trends difficult to predict. “Still,
the sector anticipates benefits from early signs of
improvement in construction activity, as well as from the
European Commission’s latest postponement and planned
simplification of the EU Deforestation Regulation
(EUDR),” says FEP.
The organisation also expects the positive effects of the
definitive EU anti-dumping measures on multilayer wood
flooring from China , introduced mid-July 2025, to
continue. FEP’s General Assembly and Parquet Congress
will take place on 11–12 June 2026 in Madrid.
See - https://www.parquet.net/2026/02/european-parquet-market-
2025-stable.html
Build in Wood topics include AI
Denmark’s Build in Wood Conference 2026 takes place
from 19 to 20 May in Copenhagen and is set to attract
professionals across the timber-based construction
industry and value chain. The event will explore how
wood can shape the built environment of the future.
Speakers will delve into a range of themes and
technologies, addressing both the potential and
complexities facing contemporary wood construction.
Conference partner the Danish Timber Trade Federation
said: “Danish case studies will candidly present the
sector’s challenges, solutions and regulatory frameworks,
while the conference also provides inspiration from
countries where wood construction is more widely adopted
and further advanced.”
Topics covered will range from resource use and building
transformation to reuse, functionality, economics and risk
management. The programme will also look at how
digitalisation and AI can strengthen design processes,
documentation practices and decision-making frameworks.
Build in Wood started in 2018 and brings together
architects, engineers, contractors, developers, clients,
manufacturers and other professionals working with wood
and timber.
See - https://buildinggreen.eu/buildinwood/
Tropical forest loss a security risk for UK
A UK government report says tropical forest loss and
resulting reduction in biodiversity and potential ecosystem
collapse pose risks to the country’s ‘resilience, security
and prosperity’ over coming decades. The report titled
‘Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national
security’, was published on January 20 by the Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Based on assessment by the government’s Joint
Intelligence Committee, it states that the world is already
experiencing impacts from global ecosystem degradation
and collapse. These include crop failures, intensified
natural disasters and infectious disease outbreaks. “Threats
will increase with degradation and intensify with
[ecosystem] collapse,” it says. “Without major
intervention to reverse the current trend, this is highly
likely to continue to 2050 and beyond.”
The report describes ‘cascading risks’ as resulting when
impacts of biodiversity loss escalate through a system of
connections. As an example, it cites the consequences of
degradation of tropical rainforests.
“This will reduce water availability and food production in
a region much wider than the forest itself,” it says. “This
will increase pressure on remaining arable land, which
people, companies and countries will compete for.
Increasing competition for scarce food production will
contribute to political instability and interstate conflict.”
Six ecosystem regions are seen as critical to the UK given
the likelihood and impact of collapse. These include the
Amazon and Congo rainforests, the mangrove forests of
Southeast Asia and the boreal forests of Canada and
Russia. Given current rates of environmental harms, the
first three of these are seen to be facing a ‘realistic
likelihood of [ecosystem] collapse’ by 2050. The date
given for the boreal forests is as early as 2030.
The report sees critical ecosystems that support major
global food production areas and impact global climate,
water and weather cycles as the most important for UK
national security.
“Severe degradation or collapse of these would highly
likely result in water insecurity, severely reduced crop
yields, a global reduction in arable land, fisheries collapse,
changes to global weather patterns, release of trapped
carbon exacerbating climate change, novel zoonotic
diseases and loss of pharmaceutical resources,” it says.
One key factor making the UK vulnerable to ecosystem
collapse in these regions is its dependence on food and
fertilizer imports.
“The UK imports 40% of its food from overseas,” says the
report. “It is heavily reliant on imports for fresh fruit,
vegetables and sugar and animal farming at current levels
is unsustainable without imports, soy from South America
makes up 18% of produced animal feed.”
See - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nature-
security-assessment-on-global-biodiversity-loss-ecosystem-
collapse-and-national-security
Irish timber building opportunities
A government commissioned report highlights the key role
timber is set to play in helping Ireland meet its housing
and other building needs while cutting building sector
emissions. ‘Market Opportunities for Timber in
Construction in Ireland’ was produced by international
construction services provider Arup. It looks at the
possibilities for using more timber in building, and the
issues that need to be overcome to realise its full potential.
The report makes ten strategic recommendations to drive
progress further, to catalyse investment, accelerate
adoption, and position timber as a primary material in.
The recommendations are to:
Foster regional timber construction clusters with
collaboration between
manufacturers, builders, and timber suppliers .
Encourage development of new MET products
tailored to Irish building typologies.
Support off-site manufacturing via temporary
incentives to
support new or expanded off-site facilities.
Create timber-based solutions for schools,
healthcare facilities, and commercial buildings
Launch demonstration projects using MET and
modular timber systems in mid-rise and public
housing developments.
Develop processing capabilities to convert
homegrown timber into higher value
products like Glulam or CLT.
Establish a centralised platform for sharing best
practices, technical guidance, case studies, and
market data across the timber construction value
chain.
Launch pilot projects showcasing off-site timber
systems in mid-rise and public housing
developments.
Partner with educational institutions to deliver
targeted training in timber engineering, offsite
construction, and sustainable design.
Run public and industry-facing campaigns to
promote the benefits of timber construction,
including speed, sustainability, and design
flexibility.
The report concludes: “Under the most ambitious
pathway, timber frame adoption could reach 70% of new
homes by 2030, displacing over 2.8 million tonnes of
CO₂e in 2030 and generating a combined market value of
more than €501 million annually, for timber frame and
MET systems.
See - https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/publications/publication-
files/market-opportunities-for-timber-in-construction-in-
ireland.pdf
Correction
Our apologies, in the previous report it was stated 2025
EU plywood imports from Viet Nam totalled 118,600
cu.m. This in incorrect. In 2025, Viet Nam exported
approximately 3.35 million cu.m of plywood of which
around 1.5-2% was shipped to the EU.
Revised EUROST data will be provided in the next report.
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