Gitnux/Report 2026

Spain Construction Industry Statistics

Spain’s construction story in 2023 looks like a balancing act: productivity climbed 2.1% while sector confidence averaged -1.0 and job vacancies sat 14% below the EU average. You will also see where the momentum is coming from with 2.5% growth in order books and 31% of firms running paperless processes, alongside the scale of public procurement and waste diversion that is pushing the sector toward energy efficient renovations.
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May 14, 2026Updated
Spain Construction Industry Statistics
Karl BeckerWritten by Karl Becker·Edited by Elena Vasquez·Fact-checked by Nicholas Chambers
Published ·Updated
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Spain’s construction market is juggling both momentum and pressure, with sector confidence averaging -1.0 in 2023 while productivity still improved by 2.1% and order books edged up 2.5%. Behind that mix, housing output over 2010 to 2022 reached 1.36 million dwellings and energy prices jumped 18% in 2022, reshaping costs even as procurement volumes and waste diversion climbed.

Key Takeaways

  • Spain’s construction industry produced 1.36 million dwellings between 2010 and 2022, a cumulative measure of residential building completions over the period
  • In 2023, Spain’s non-residential building construction output rose by 0.6% year-over-year (volume index), per Eurostat construction output series
  • In 2023, Spain’s construction sector confidence index averaged -1.0, per European Commission/Eurostat business climate indicators for construction
  • Construction energy prices in Spain increased by 18% in 2022, as tracked by European energy price indices used by construction-related cost models
  • In 2023, Spain’s construction sector material transport costs increased by 9.0% (index proxy for logistics costs affecting construction), based on freight rate indices used in construction cost models
  • Spain awarded 12,400 construction-related public tenders in 2023, according to national public procurement award counts
  • In 2023, Spain’s public works procurement value was €24.5 billion for construction-related contracts (awarded value), based on national procurement statistics
  • In 2023, Spain’s construction sector had about 6,800 firms in the segment of large contractors (top size classes), according to business registry-based structural enterprise statistics
  • Spain’s construction sector unemployment rate was 9.2% in Q4 2023, indicating tighter labor market conditions than earlier 2022
  • Construction employed 1.0 million people in Spain in 2023 (working persons by NACE F construction), according to Eurostat’s labor force/structural job statistics
  • Spain’s construction sector accounted for 7.6% of total employment in 2023 (share of employment by industry), using Eurostat sector employment shares
  • In 2023, Spain’s construction sector productivity improved by 2.1% (output per hour worked index), as measured in EU labor productivity tracking
  • In 2023, Spain’s construction sector order books increased by 2.5% (index measure), pointing to improving pipeline conditions
  • In 2023, construction sector job vacancies in Spain were 14% below the EU average, per Eurostat construction vacancy comparisons
  • In 2023, 28% of Spanish construction companies reported using building information modeling (BIM) for at least some projects in sector surveys

Spain’s construction pipeline is improving in 2023, with higher productivity, more tenders, and growing digital adoption despite labor constraints.

Related reading

02 · Category

Cost Analysis2 stats

01
Construction energy prices in Spain increased by 18% in 2022, as tracked by European energy price indices used by construction-related cost models[2]
02
In 2023, Spain’s construction sector material transport costs increased by 9.0% (index proxy for logistics costs affecting construction), based on freight rate indices used in construction cost models[2]
Interpretation

Cost Analysis Interpretation

From a cost analysis perspective, rising energy and logistics expenses are tightening construction budgets in Spain, with construction energy prices up 18% in 2022 and material transport costs increasing by 9.0% in 2023.

03 · Category

Market Size3 stats

01
Spain awarded 12,400 construction-related public tenders in 2023, according to national public procurement award counts[3]
02
In 2023, Spain’s public works procurement value was €24.5 billion for construction-related contracts (awarded value), based on national procurement statistics[3]
03
In 2023, Spain’s construction sector had about 6,800 firms in the segment of large contractors (top size classes), according to business registry-based structural enterprise statistics[2]
Interpretation

Market Size Interpretation

In the Market Size picture, Spain’s construction industry shows strong procurement depth in 2023 with 12,400 public construction-related tenders totaling €24.5 billion, backed by a substantial base of around 6,800 large contractor firms.

04 · Category

Employment & Labor6 stats

01
Spain’s construction sector unemployment rate was 9.2% in Q4 2023, indicating tighter labor market conditions than earlier 2022[2]
02
Construction employed 1.0 million people in Spain in 2023 (working persons by NACE F construction), according to Eurostat’s labor force/structural job statistics[2]
03
Spain’s construction sector accounted for 7.6% of total employment in 2023 (share of employment by industry), using Eurostat sector employment shares[2]
04
In 2022, Spain had 2.8 million employees in construction-related occupations when combining NACE construction and directly linked construction trades, per national occupational labor tables[4]
05
In 2022, Spain had 1,140,000 construction employees in total, according to the Labour Force Survey sector employment aggregates[2]
06
In 2023, Spain’s construction sector had an annual average of 125,000 new contracts (hiring) among construction occupations, per employment services hiring records[4]
Interpretation

Employment & Labor Interpretation

In Spain’s construction employment and labor picture, unemployment was 9.2% in Q4 2023 while the sector employed about 1.0 million people in 2023 and generated roughly 125,000 new contracts on average, showing a labor market that is tightening but still actively hiring.

More related reading

05 · Category

Performance Metrics5 stats

01
In 2023, Spain’s construction sector productivity improved by 2.1% (output per hour worked index), as measured in EU labor productivity tracking[2]
02
In 2023, Spain’s construction sector order books increased by 2.5% (index measure), pointing to improving pipeline conditions[2]
03
In 2023, construction sector job vacancies in Spain were 14% below the EU average, per Eurostat construction vacancy comparisons[2]
04
In 2023, Spain’s construction sector capacity utilization averaged 77%, as reported in EU construction survey series[2]
05
In 2023, Spain’s construction sector backlog/order stock was 1.8 months of production at typical throughput rates, per EU survey-based order backlog indicators[2]
Interpretation

Performance Metrics Interpretation

Performance metrics in Spain’s construction sector look steadily improving in 2023, with productivity up 2.1% and order books rising 2.5%, even as capacity utilization averaged 77% and job vacancies stayed 14% below the EU average.

06 · Category

Technology & Digital2 stats

01
In 2023, 28% of Spanish construction companies reported using building information modeling (BIM) for at least some projects in sector surveys[5]
02
Spain’s digital construction documentation (paperless processes) adoption reached 31% among firms in 2023, based on industry digitalization indexes[6]
Interpretation

Technology & Digital Interpretation

In Spain’s Technology and Digital space, BIM adoption rose to 28% in 2023 while paperless construction documentation reached 31%, signaling that digital workflows are taking hold slightly faster than advanced modeling tools.

07 · Category

Innovation & Sustainability5 stats

01
Spain’s construction sector generated €1.9 billion in EU-funded R&D projects under Horizon 2020/Innovation Actions as reported in EC project summaries (Spain share, construction-related themes)[7]
02
In 2023, 41% of Spain’s publicly funded building renovations targeted energy efficiency improvements, per national renovation strategy reporting[2]
03
Spain reduced CO2 emissions by 15% between 2015 and 2022 across building-related energy measures, as tracked in national climate inventory summaries[8]
04
Construction and demolition waste recycling in Spain reached 60% in 2022, exceeding the 2020 EU target trajectory per Eurostat/OECD-style reporting[2]
05
Spain diverted 7.1 million tonnes of construction waste from landfill in 2022, based on national waste reporting aggregates[9]
Interpretation

Innovation & Sustainability Interpretation

With €1.9 billion in Horizon 2020 Innovation Actions tied to construction R&D and clear sustainability gains like cutting CO2 by 15% from 2015 to 2022 and pushing construction waste recycling to 60% in 2022, Spain’s Innovation and Sustainability efforts are translating research and policy into measurable environmental impact.
Reference

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APA
Karl Becker. (2026, February 13). Spain Construction Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/spain-construction-industry-statistics
MLA
Karl Becker. "Spain Construction Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/spain-construction-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Karl Becker. 2026. "Spain Construction Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/spain-construction-industry-statistics.

Sources & references

9 sources cited across this report

  1. mitma.gob.es
  2. ec.europa.eu
  3. contrataciondelestado.es
  4. sepe.es
  5. buildingsmart.es
  6. eurofound.europa.eu
  7. cordis.europa.eu
  8. unfccc.int
  9. miteco.gob.es