Market environment

Continued weak building construction industry

In November 2025, the construction market research network Euroconstruct forecasted a slight decrease in building construction for Europe in full-year 2025 of 0.7%, slightly below the figures published in June 2025 (-0.4%). At -1.0%, renovations showed a sharper decline than new construction (-0.2%) in the latest forecast, although the latter already declined by 6.0% in the previous year. The decline was primarily due to residential construction (-1.2%), with non-residential construction remaining stable (+0.2%).

Most of the countries that are important to Geberit in terms of sales again developed negatively in 2025: Italy -6.2%, France -2.1%, Germany -1.9%, Austria -1.1%, Switzerland -0.6% and the Netherlands -0.5%. However, the Iberian Peninsula (Spain +4.3%, Portugal +2.6%), the Nordic Countries (Finland +3.2%, Norway +2.1%, Denmark +2.0%, Sweden +1.8%), as well as Ireland (+9.9%) and the United Kingdom (+1.4%) all recorded positive growth.

Of the total European construction volume of EUR 2,282 billion in 2025, around 80% was generated by building construction. The ratio of residential to non-residential building construction remained unchanged at around 60% to 40%. New construction as a share of total building construction continued to lag behind the renovation business in 2025.

According to estimates by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, real gross domestic product (GDP) increased by +2.2% in the USA (previous year +2.8%). Inflation declined to +2.7% (previous year +2.9%) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2025, the number of construction projects started in the healthcare and education segments – which are relevant for Geberit in the USA – recorded slight growth compared to the previous year.

In the Far East/Pacific region, economic growth amounted to +4.5% in the reporting year, above the global economic development of +3.2%. At +4.8%, China recorded slightly weaker growth compared to the previous year (+5.0%), with the real estate crisis again having a negative impact on residential construction in 2025.

In the Middle East/Africa region, economic growth in 2025 was +3.3% – higher than in the previous year (+2.1%).

(The aforementioned figures covering the world economy and the performance of the Far East/Pacific and Middle East/Africa regions were published in the October 2025 edition of the IMF World Economic Outlook)