The construction sector recorded growth of 18.7% in the first quarter of 2025, but the details pointed to a softer picture beneath the headline number. Capital repair works fell 23.5%, maintenance and current repair works dropped 13.1%, and new construction declined 7.1% in the first three months of the year.
The weakness was sharper in non-residential buildings, where work fell 27.6% in the quarter. The source says that category covers commercial, industrial and administrative premises. By contrast, construction of residential buildings rose 2.8%, while other construction work increased 5.2%.
New construction still made up 52.1% of all work performed in the quarter, making it the largest category even as output in that segment eased. Maintenance and repair work accounted for 23.3%, and major repairs made up 20.6% of total work performed.
The split matters because it shows where the sector’s momentum came from and where it did not. A year-on-year gain of 18.7% suggests the industry was expanding, but the contractions in repair work and non-residential building construction show that the growth was uneven rather than broad-based.
That imbalance also helps explain why the sector returned to negative territory at the beginning of 2026, after the first-quarter expansion in 2025. The quarter’s numbers left construction leaning heavily on new work and residential projects, while commercial, industrial and administrative building activity lost ground.
For readers tracking construction more broadly, the pattern is a reminder that headline growth can hide sharp swings inside the sector. The quarter closed with output still higher overall, but the most vulnerable areas were already under pressure, and those losses carried into the next year.
