In May 2020, estimates for construction output quickly rose by 168.0% in the month on month series, after record falls seen in March (-35.5%) and April 2020 (-68.9%).
In the three months to May 2020, the seasonally adjusted index of production in construction, driven by the strong decline reported in March and April, decreased by 41.9% compared with the previous three months
Year on year, the unadjusted index for construction output dropped by 22.3%, while the calendar adjusted index contracted by 16.8% (20 calendar working days versus 22 days in May 2019).
n In the first five months of 2020, construction output decreased by 23.6% in the calendar adjusted series and was down 24.2% in the unadjusted series.
During the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, the survey on Building Workers Welfare Funds was largely unaffected, gaining the usual response rate. Notwithstanding, a minor issue may concern the quality of the information gathered. With regard to the industrial turnover survey, a moderate fall in the response rate occured. Specific procedure were implemented to deal with the unusual fluctuation in the series, in order to calculate and release accurate indices for May 2020 (for further details see Methodological note, page 8).