Austria construction turnover up 2.7% in July 2026
Austrian construction turnover rose 2.7% to EUR 6.3 billion in July 2026 while employment fell 1.7% and hours worked fell 2.0%, Statistik Austria reports.
The facts
- Austrian construction turnover reached EUR 6,279.4 million in July 2026, +2.7% against July 2025 in nominal terms and +3.7% adjusted for working days.
- The sector employed 297,226 people at the end of July, 1.7% fewer than a year earlier, across 39,604 companies.
- Hours worked fell 2.0% year on year.
- Gross earnings in the sector came to EUR 1,299.6 million.
- Manufacturing outpaced construction, with turnover up 4.6% nominally to EUR 28,450.4 million.
- Statistik Austria notes that construction turnover for 2026 so far is still slightly negative, without giving a figure.
What it means for your money
- Austrian builders invoiced 2.7% more with 1.7% fewer staff. Quotes rise, but 2026 turnover is still negative year to date.
- More revenue on fewer hours means a rising cost per unit of work, and that lands on a renovation budget before it reaches a sale price.
- The still-negative year to date points the other way: order books are not full, and that is where a buyer's negotiating room on a refurbishment comes from.
- Glopra data puts the Austrian average at USD 7,243 per square metre, up 13.9% over five years, so construction cost pressure is working on an already expensive entry price.
What to watch
- The release measures turnover, employment and hours, not what a square metre costs to build: it carries no construction price index.
- Whether employment keeps falling from the 297,226 recorded at the end of July.
- The next Baukostenindex, which carries the price side this release does not.
Sources: Statistik Austria https://statistik.at/fileadmin/announcement/2026/10/20261029KonjunkturJuli2026.pdf