According to preliminary estimates from Eurostat, construction production in the EU fell by 2 percent in February 2026 compared to February 2025. January had seen a 4.2 percent year-over-year decline, with better weather helping February stats.
Not so in Poland, however, where the year-over-year figure for February saw construction production plummet 13.7 percent, more than the 11 percent drop in January. Spain also saw a similar drop of 10.2 percent.
That makes Poland the worst performer in Europe in the sector, notes Business Insider, both for year-over-year figures and month-over-month.
“Among the member states for which data is available, the largest monthly declines in construction production were recorded in Poland (-3.7%), Belgium and France (-1.4% each), and Germany (-1.2%). The largest increases were recorded in Romania (+8.7%), Slovenia (+5.5%), and Slovakia (+5.4%),” writes Eurostat.
The largest declines in Poland occurred in the “building construction” segment. Here, the negative growth rate in February was 16.7%. This was still better than the -18.4% year-on-year decline in January, but still very negative.
In Spain, the situation in this segment was even worse. There, building construction fell by a staggering 35.7% year-on-year in February.
The Polish version of Business Insider attributes the decline in Poland to the rapidly shrinking residential construction market. While previously a large number of apartments were needed to meet demand from an influx of immigrants, primarily from Ukraine, those arrivals are drying up, and with it demand for housing and any accompanying investment.
In February, the year-over-year decline in individual construction was a staggering 25.8 percent, with developers reducing the number of new apartment constructions by 11.7 percent. Only the social rental housing segment grew, but this represented only 343 apartments nationwide, compared to nearly 10,000 built by developers. Specialist construction saw a 12.2 percent year-over-year decline, while construction of civil engineering structures, including roads and bridges, fell by 11.8 percent.
The drop-off news is just more bad news for Poland, as layoffs and inflation continue to hit the economy. Last fall, Bosch announced layoffs that could end up being in the tens of thousands. Just a few weeks ago, mass layoffs were announced in Poland’s key furniture sector. In 2024, Poland was the third-largest furniture exporter in the world, with a 5.7 percent share.
Back in 2024, Remix News wrote about how a spokesperson for Randstat had acknowledged that many firms are moving their production out of Poland due to rising labor costs, including significant increases in the minimum wage.
In the meantime, Poland’s Tusk-led government has ruled out tax cuts, despite the recent surge in energy prices, emphasizing the current spending priorities on defense, security, and healthcare.
