UK construction activity falls at fastest pace in over five years
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Thursday 06 Nov 2025
(Sharecast News) - Activity in the UK construction sector fell in October at the fastest pace for over five years, according to a survey released on Thursday.
The S&P Global construction purchasing managers' index declined to 44.1 from 46.2 in September. It remained below the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion for the tenth month in a row.
It also marked the longest period of continuous decline since the global financial crisis more than 15 years ago.
Civil engineering remained the weakest-performing segment, with the index at 35.4 in October, as business activity fell sharply and at the fastest pace since May 2020. Survey respondents cited a lack of new work to replace completed projects.
Residential work also saw a sharp decline, but commercial building activity showed some resilience, with the latest index reading of 46.3 little changed on September.
Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "UK construction companies reported another challenging month in October as the prolonged weakening of order books so far in 2025 resulted in the fastest decline in business activity for over five years. Civil engineering and residential activity saw the fastest rates of contraction, while commercial building showed some resilience.
"Reduced workloads were again widely attributed to risk aversion and delayed decision-making among clients, which contributed to a slower-than-expected release of new projects. Subdued demand in the wake of heightened political and economic uncertainty also led to the steepest drop in input buying since May 2020.
"Meanwhile, some positive signals for the construction sector in October included a slowdown in cost inflation to its lowest for one year, rising subcontractor availability, and a sustained improvement in supplier performance.
"Looking ahead, business activity expectations for the coming 12 months remained much weaker than the long-run survey average, largely due to worries about fragile investment sentiment and weak sales pipelines. However, overall optimism levels edged up to the highest since July as the prospect of lower borrowing costs reportedly helped to boost demand projections."
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