The UK construction sector grew by 18% in 2022 to £97.6bn, with residential construction accounting for the vast majority of this market size (80.8%), the latest data from easyMoney reveals.

The data found that the sector is also expected to grow a further 3.9% this year, having rebounded from the previous pandemic decline seen since 2020.

This would push it above the £100bn mark for the first time since 2020, to an estimated £101.4bn.

The UK construction sector had enjoyed consistent growth since 2013 when the market size was an estimated £70.1bn, increasing consistently each year to a peak of £108.6bn in 2019.

When the pandemic struck, the UK construction sector retracted by -3.8% initially between 2019 and 2020.

It then reduced by a further -21% between 2020 and 2021 to just £82.5bn, a 24% drop versus its 2019 peak.

The sector’s partial return to health places the UK at the top of the European leaderboard in terms of construction sector size, with Germany in second place with an estimated market size of £56.5bn.

easyMoney chief executive Jason Ferrando says: “It’s not just the residential sales market that has enjoyed a period of boom during the pandemic and while the complications posed to the construction sector by Covid have taken longer to overcome, it rebounded at quite an alarming rate in 2022.”

“This positive growth looks set to continue in 2023, driven largely by residential activity, which bodes very well for the wider health of the UK property market and echoes the growing market sentiment seen across the board since the set back of last September’s shambolic mini budget.”

“So while we’re yet to see the total size of the construction sector return to its pre-pandemic peak, the likelihood is that this milestone will be made as soon as 2024 as Britain continues to build for future generations.”