WIESBADEN (dpa-AFX) - The construction industry in Germany closed the first quarter with an increase in orders thanks to a renewed rise in orders in March. In the first three months, the construction industry recorded 1.6 percent more orders than in the same period of the previous year, adjusted for price (real), according to the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden on Friday. In nominal terms, incoming orders were 1.1 percent higher than a year ago.

In real terms, more orders were received in March - both compared to February 2024 (up 3.8%) and compared to March 2023 (up 2.2%). In contrast, nominal, i.e. not price-adjusted, new orders in the construction industry were 3.4% below the level of the same month last year.

"The background to this rather unusual decline in nominal incoming orders and simultaneous increase in real incoming orders is the fall in construction prices in 2023," explained the statisticians. The main construction sector comprises the construction of buildings (building construction) as well as roads, railroad lines and pipelines (civil engineering).

In both real and nominal terms, the industry's turnover in March was below the level of the same month last year: adjusted for prices, companies recorded 8.2 percent lower revenue. Nominal turnover fell by 7.5% to 8.4 billion euros. In the first quarter as a whole, turnover fell by 4.1 percent in real terms and 3.3 percent in nominal terms compared to the same quarter of the previous year./ben/DP/stk