News & Analysis

UK infrastructure orders up despite downturn

Infrastructure orders in the UK construction industry for the full year ending in June have risen 14%, while total construction orders over the same period have fallen 27%.

By
Chris Josselyn
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Orders for infrastructure work in the UK construction industry are continuing to rise despite the recession.

According to new figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), infrastructure orders in the three months to June were up 4 percent to £1.81 billion (€2.1 billion; $3 billion), which represents a substantial 27 percent increase over the same three-month period last year.

The growth occurred in spite of the UK construction sector at large, which although growing by 18 percent to £7.8 billion on the previous three month period, fell 21 percent from the same period last year.

For the whole year to June, infrastructure orders were up 14 percent. During the same period orders in the construction industry as a whole were down 27 percent. Private housing orders for the year to June fell by 50 percent from the previous year.