The ifo Business Survey in the Construction Industry

The ifo Business Survey in the manufacturing industry was introduced in 1949. It was quickly supplemented by the ifo Business Survey retail trade in 1950 and the ifo Business Survey wholesale trade in 1951. The monthly ifo Business Survey in the construction industry (conventional construction without the finishing trades) followed in 1956, with the first surveys taking place in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia before being gradually extended to the entire territory of the Federal Republic of Germany. Setting up the survey, the ifo Institute received support from several regional and national construction associations. Following German reunification, the construction industry had its highest share of gross value added in 1994, at 7.1%. In the following years, this share fell continuously until 2006, when it reached its lowest point at 3.8%. Thereafter, the construction sector regained importance. In 2017 it generated 4.9% of Germany’s gross value added. Within the construction sector, about 60% of gross value added is accounted for by construction and about 40% by the finishing trades. The finishing trades, however, have not yet been included in the ifo Business Survey