Prior to the start of the crisis, the Romanian construction industry was one of the most vibrant in the EU with construction output rising by 20-30% every year, but this changed dramatically in 2009 and overall the construction industry’s output has fallen by over -30% since then, according to a new report by PMR.

However, the residential construction output has fallen even faster and mainly because of the outflow of foreign capital and the lack of funding for on-going residential projects/new developments, output fell by -35% last year alone and so far this year it has fallen by a further -20%.

In the past two years there have been many bankruptcies, particularly small developers, because of the dearth of projects and delays in payments for construction work carried out.

The number of employees in the construction industry fell by -8.5% last year, in comparison with 2009, to 317,200. However, there was a slight increase in average monthly wages in construction in 2010 to €377/month report PMR.

Overall, the construction industry fell by almost -5% in the first four months of this year and the first sector to rebound is expected to be infrastructure projects, while residential is expected to be the last to return to growth as the number of residential building permits issued in Romania is still falling.