The Office for National Statistics published estimates of construction output for April 2023 this morning.

• Monthly construction output is estimated to have decreased 0.6% in volume terms in April 2023; this follows two months of consecutive growth.
• The decrease in monthly output came from a decrease in new work (1.0% fall), with a small offset from an increase in repair and maintenance (0.1%) on the month.
• At the sector level, five out of the nine sectors saw a fall in April 2023, with the main contributors to the monthly decrease being private housing repair and maintenance and private housing new work, which decreased 5.7% (£149 million) and 3.0% (£99 million), respectively.
• Anecdotal evidence suggested a continued slow-down in private housing, referencing economic worries with customers hesitant to request work; despite this, similar to last month, some companies across other sectors have again reported an easing in inflation.
• Alongside the monthly decrease, construction output saw an increase of 1.6% in the three months to April 2023; this is the eighth period of consecutive growth in the three-month-on-three-month series; the increase came solely from a rise in repair and maintenance (5.7%), as new work saw a decrease of 0.9%.

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