May Construction Update from the Department for Business & Trade

The Office for National Statistics published estimates of Construction Output for March 2025 and new orders January to March 2025 this morning.

Main points:
• Total construction output is estimated to have shown no growth (0.0%) in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025 compared with Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2024; over the period new work increased by 0.9%, while repair and maintenance fell by 1.2%.
• Monthly construction output is estimated to have grown by 0.5% in March 2025; this follows a downwardly revised increase of 0.2% in February 2025, and an unrevised decrease of 0.3% in January 2025.
• The increase in monthly output in March 2025 came from increases in both new work, and repair and maintenance, which grew by 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.
• Anecdotal evidence from survey returns noted the positive effects of warmer and milder weather.
• At the sector level, five out of the nine sectors grew in March 2025; the main contributors to the monthly increase were private housing and infrastructure new work, which rose by 2.3% and 2.5%, respectively.
• Total construction new orders grew by 26.6% (£2,447 million) in Quarter 1 2025 compared with Quarter 4 2024; this quarterly increase came mainly from infrastructure new work and private industrial new work

Download the latest Monthly Construction update for the Department for Business & Trade here.