The FFB finally sees a bright spot in the construction sector and revises its forecasts upwards

The French Building Federation presented revised forecasts on Tuesday, March 11, concerning the sector's activity in 2025 and foresees a brighter outlook at the start of the year thanks to the measures taken by the State, after two years of crisis.

In December, the FFB had indicated that it was predicting a 5,6% drop in construction activity without a draft finance bill. Since then, a state budget has been voted for 2025 and the federation now only predicts a 2,6% drop in activity.

The FFB has also revised its balance sheet for 2024 after revising the official figures for construction site openings in 2024 (290.800 compared to 263.100 previously announced).

Construction activity would thus have fallen by 5,5% in 2024, compared to -6,6% previously indicated by the FFB.

"This perhaps explains why the employment figures did not collapse in 2024," estimated Olivier Salleron, president of the FFB, who estimates the number of jobs lost in the construction industry last year at 30.000.

For 2025, 50.000 jobs could be lost, here too the figure is revised downwards compared to the 100.000 job cuts planned in December, in the absence of a Finance Bill.

As for business failures, they have seen a "practically historic increase", according to Mr. Salleron, among companies with fewer than 10 employees: +26% among self-employed entrepreneurs, +23% among companies with 1 to 5 employees and +19% among companies with 6 to 9 employees.

The increase in bankruptcies is 55% among companies with 50 or more employees, which "will cost a lot in terms of employment", warns the president of the FFB.

However, "the decline curve is inflected," Olivier Salleron rejoiced during a press conference.

On the side of individual house builders, sales made between November and January increased by 30% compared to the previous three months.

This start of recovery and the measures concerning the building industry included in the 2025 finance law (zero-rate loan, stability of the MaPrimeRénov' system, exemption from taxes on donations, reduction of a levy on social landlords) make the FFB "optimistic for the future".

"At the end of 2025, it will not be a blue sky that appears," Olivier Salleron nevertheless warned, recalling that the building industry will take time to recover after the crisis.

The construction industry has been hampered for two years by the halt in new construction, particularly housing, due to rising construction costs and interest rates.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.