New figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown that infrastructure has become the first part of the construction sector to bounce back above pre-crisis levels of output.
The value of infrastructure work in July was £1.97bn, which was a 0.4% increase on the £1.96bn recorded pre-crisis in February and 7.8% higher than the value of infrastructure work recorded in July 2019.
When the seasonal adjustment measure is taken into account, which allows for different levels of work that is typically experienced at different times of the year, the infrastructure value in July was up by 6.1% compared to February.
The latest ONS figures show that all parts of construction have made a substantial recovery following the unprecedented £5.1bn drop in April. In June, the ONS recorded a 23.5% growth across the whole sector, which increased by a further 17.6% in July. Private industrial construction is showing the weakest level of recovery but is still increasing.
Across the whole sector in July new work accounted for £7.9bn of the £11.9bn of all construction and maintenance activity for the month. For the same period in July 2019 the value of new work was £9.1bn.
Other areas of construction including public new housing, private new housing, public other new work and private commercial all showed a growth in July too.
It is believed by many within the construction industry that infrastructure work has bounced back first as it is relatively unaffected by the new social distancing restrictions, as the construction sites are often much larger and easier to practice social distancing and other safety measures without hindering productivity.
It has also been suggested by leaders within the construction industry that regulated and public sector clients seen in infrastructure deliver greater certainty over finance compared with other activities.