A way to measure the size of the construction sector is through the gross value added (GVA) generated by this economic activity as a percentage of the total GVA, according to a press release from the European Commission.

This percentage ranged between 5% and 6% in the EU from 2010 to 2022. It was highest at 5.8% in 2010, decreasing to 5.1% in 2014 until 2017, then rising again to reach 5.5% in 2020, 5.4% in 2021, and 5.5% in 2022.

Among the member states, the share of GVA in construction decreased in 14 member states between 2010 and 2022, with the largest decreases in Spain, Bulgaria, and Cyprus.

Among the member states with an increasing share of the construction sector in this period, Hungary, Germany, and Lithuania recorded the highest growth.

In 2022, the member states with the highest proportions were Austria (7.3%), Finland and Romania (both 7.0%).

Another way to look at the size of the construction sector is by analyzing the number of enterprises, the number of employed persons, and the growth of employment across regions (NUTS 2 regions).

In 2021, Île-de-France, the capital region of France (more than 98,000 enterprises), Lombardy in Italy (almost 98,000, data from 2020), as well as Catalonia (73,000) in Spain and Rhône-Alpes in France (71,000) had the highest number of enterprises in the construction sector.

Regarding the number of employed persons in the construction sector, Île-de-France (365,000 employees) and Lombardy (259,000, data from 2020) also had the highest numbers, followed by Catalonia (219,000), the Community of Madrid (213,000), and Andalusia (197,000) in Spain.

In 2020, the employment growth rate in the construction sector was at least 10.0% in Prov.

Luxembourg in Belgium (+19.5%), Epirus in Greece (+15.2%), Budapest in Hungary (+12.1%), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany (+11.1%), Utrecht in the Netherlands (+10.4%), and Southwest Oltenia in Romania (+10.0%).