Current situation and outlook for the construction products industries

21 of the 36 professional organizations surveyed responded, representing an overall response rate of 58%, distributed between structural work (42%), finishing work (48%) and equipment (10%).

Review of the year 2025: main results of the survey

The results show that AIMCC member companies experienced a further decline in their business volume in 2025. No industry reported an increase in activity. Three-quarters of respondents reported stable or declining activity compared to 2024. A correlation was observed between the decreases in volume and value, unlike the previous year.

In terms of revenue, for one-third of respondents, turnover remained stable. For the remaining respondents, turnover declined to varying degrees (29% between -1% and -5%, 24% between -5% and -10%, and 14% between -15% and -20%). These declines in activity affected all sectors:

For structural work, the declines are spread across all revenue decrease ranges: it should be noted that slightly less than a quarter of structural work respondents experienced a significant drop in revenue (between -15% and -20%). For finishing work, 40% of respondents experienced stagnant revenue, while the remainder saw varying declines. It should be noted that 10% of respondents experienced a revenue decrease exceeding 15%. For equipment suppliers, the declines were split roughly equally between the two ranges of -1% to -5% and -5% to -10%.

This general decline in activity in 2025 is attributed mainly to political and institutional instability and regulatory constraints (for 60% of all respondents) as well as insufficient demand.

In terms of staffing levels, despite the decline in activity, over 70% of manufacturers have at least maintained their number of employees; the remainder have reduced their workforce. No positive changes in staffing levels are projected for 2025. Despite the decline in activity, the finishing trades sector has largely maintained its staffing levels (over 80%). Structural construction has maintained its staffing levels (nearly 60% of respondents); the remainder have seen a reduction in staff. Equipment suppliers have maintained their staffing levels.

Challenges and prospects for 2026: main results of the survey

The outlook for 2026 is mixed: a third of manufacturers expect a moderate recovery in activity. Half anticipate stagnation or a slight decline. For 16% of them, the decline could be between -5% and -15%. The industry is therefore anticipating a year of contrasts and remains cautious about activity levels in 2026.

For structural work, over 40% of respondents anticipate a return to positive growth in 2026, however modest. However, the majority expect the year to remain negative in terms of activity. For finishing work, 60% of respondents anticipate stagnation; nearly 10% foresee a slight increase, while the remainder anticipate declines of varying degrees.

For equipment, respondents are split roughly in half between a slightly upward trend in activity and a decrease of between -5% and -10%.

The main obstacles to activity in 2026: while insufficient demand remains the main obstacle identified, budgetary constraints and the impact of electoral deadlines are among the major constraints.

Recruitment outlook: nearly two-thirds of respondents plan to maintain their current staffing levels, while 30% anticipate a reduction and only 4% expect an increase. It should be noted that all three sectors anticipate stagnation in their workforce, albeit at varying levels; staff reductions are possible in structural and finishing work.

The levers for developing the circular economy: recycling and resource conservation are the main levers mentioned for developing the circular economy. These are followed by waste recovery and reuse.

The priorities of manufacturers for 2026, identified in descending order, are: cost control, data ownership and exploitation, decarbonization, digital transformation and employee training.

AIMCC priorities for 2026

Industrial companies are being severely impacted by the decline in activity, and this at a pivotal moment when they are facing ecological transition challenges (decarbonization, circular economy) which require major transformations for their business.

AIMCC remains strongly committed and mobilized to support manufacturers facing these economic and environmental challenges, in collaboration with other stakeholders in the sector, through regular work with public authorities on the various regulatory and legislative texts relevant to the profession. However, these challenges cannot be effectively met without a return to political stability that restores confidence among stakeholders and a strong commitment from public authorities to develop and support the construction sector.

HOUSING: Housing must be a national priority to meet needs, in number and quality (reduction of poor housing, areas in tension…).

RENOVATE: renovation remains the most effective way to reduce emissions from the building sector, restore purchasing power to citizens and generate non-relocatable activity in the territories.

DECARBONIZE: AIMCC calls for maintaining a strong ambition on the decarbonization of industry to achieve climate objectives.

DEVELOPING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY: the sector, aware of its responsibility in terms of the extraction of non-renewable resources, is developing solutions for recycling, reuse and eco-design.

These challenges can only be met by taking into account the following principles, which AIMCC strongly advocates:

SOVEREIGNTY: The value chains of the construction sectors are composed of companies of varying sizes, with strong ties between their sites and their regions of operation. AIMCC calls for recognition of the strategic role of the construction materials sector, the development of a genuine policy and trade defense tools adapted to the sector (market monitoring), the promotion of low-carbon European products through pilot markets, and the recognition of the quality and performance and safety guarantees offered by construction products and materials.

REALISM: AIMCC calls for effective texts without administrative burden for companies, by adopting realistic regulations, resulting from consultation with stakeholders, consistent between French and European levels, without over-transposition, prioritizing in regulatory texts the performance of works by letting professionals choose the right combinations of products to meet the requirements.

CO-CONSTRUCTION: AIMCC calls for increased collaboration by encouraging partnerships between stakeholders and the use of digital technologies for greater productivity and efficiency, ensuring that manufacturers retain responsibility and full ownership of all their data, and initiating the development of the INIES database and the new construction product database required by the new RPC.

INNOVATION: Construction industries are innovating to meet major societal, environmental, and economic challenges. It is in this context that the Strategic Sector Committee (CSF) has published its R&D roadmap to support innovation projects in construction industries and calls on the State to include them in the priorities of the national policy to support R&D.

TRAINING: The transformations in our sector, which offer career opportunities, require us to promote industrial professions, to develop training adapted to the new needs of industry, construction and engineering, covering all qualifications, from vocational certificates to doctorates.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.