The volume of construction work in Romania increased by 34.3% in the first two months of this year, compared to last year, according to the statistics office INS.

The sector is expected to show higher resilience than other industries during the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

However, a significant number of employees in construction have lost their jobs amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

“The information in this press release (February 2020) does not capture the impact of the COVID-19 crisis,” the INS press release reads. In February alone, the volume of construction works increased by 23.5% compared to the same month of 2019, and by 4.6% (in seasonally adjusted terms) compared to January 2020.

In the first two months of the year, the volume of works for maintenance and current repairs posted the strongest growth (+76.5%).

Capital repairs also increased robustly (+41.1%) while the works on new construction projects lagged behind the average (+ 23.7%).

The civil engineering segment boasted the strongest growth amid more public funds dedicated (+49.9%).

In comparison, the works on residential buildings (+26.0%) and non-residential buildings (+23.3%) posted robust advance.

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editor@romania-insider.com