LONDON, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Britain's construction sector recorded subdued performance in April, with the output logging the steepest decline since November 2025, data from S&P Global showed Thursday.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) came in at 39.7 in April, plummeting from 45.6 in March and indicating a sharp fall in overall business activity, according to S&P Global.
Survey respondents widely reported subdued demand conditions and a subsequent lack of new projects, it said. Construction firms often noted that elevated business uncertainty due to the Middle East conflict had led to longer sales conversion times and fewer tender opportunities.
Meanwhile, fuel surcharges contributed to a rapid increase in purchasing prices across the sector, with nearly 70 percent of respondents reporting a rise in their input costs in April, much higher than 48 percent in March, the data showed.
Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "A rapid acceleration of input cost inflation was seen across the UK construction sector in April. Aside from the post-pandemic surge in input prices from early-2021 to mid-2022, the latest rise in purchasing costs was the steepest in three decades of data collection."
Although expectations for construction activity over the next 12 months remained positive overall, confidence levels were the lowest since last November, he added.
The main negative factors cited by respondents include fragile investment sentiment and elevated borrowing costs, alongside continued uncertainty about the impact of the Middle East conflict on prices, supply chains and broader economic prospects, he said.
