BERLIN, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Germany's main construction industry increased revenues by 6.6 percent year-on-year in 2020 to a new record of 98.3 billion euros (120.2 billion U.S. dollars), the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Thursday.
Following a "very high level of incoming orders" in 2019, Germany's main construction industry saw a further 0.5 percent increase in new orders last year, Destatis said, citing a survey of 9,100 construction companies with 20 or more employees.
"Construction companies managed to defy the coronavirus crisis in 2020 and increase their revenues," commented Tim Lorenz of the main association of the German construction industry in a statement.
Within the individual construction sectors, order intake "developed differently" last year, Destatis noted. While housing construction in Germany increased by 7.6 percent, commercial construction fell 4.8 percent below the previous year's result.
In December last year, construction-related revenues reached the double-digit billion figure for the first time in a single month at around 11 billion euros, an increase of 20.3 percent year-on-year, according to Destatis.
The value-added tax (VAT) reduction, which was implemented in the second half of last year as a COVID-19 economic stimulus measure, also contributed to the development, as it led to a "strong increase in revenues at the end of the year," said Lorenz. "However, the pull-forward effects will mean that these revenues will be missing in 2021."
For 2021, the industry is "no longer quite so optimistic" and the main association of the German construction industry expects nominal revenues to stagnate. (1 euro = 1.22 U.S. dollars) Enditem
