Construction and tourism boost the Limburg economy

Breathe a sigh of relief because our economy is once again heading for better times. According to Voka Limburg’s predictions, we will see a nice revival of the business climate until the summer. The best news comes from the increasing number of starters, the construction sector and tourism. Things are less good with exports, car sales and the number of vacancies.

Starting with the bad news: “The labor market partial indicator remains erratic,” says Johann Leten. “Employment has increased by 4.4%, but the employment rate remains among the lowest in Europe and the lag behind the European average has become even greater. However, an employment rate of 80% would generate no less than 11 billion euros extra for our treasury. There more is needed to turn the economic tide. Such as increasing our productivity growth. We are now noticing a decline in productivity, caused by, among other things, the shift to services, the high administrative burdens, the rigid permit issues, traffic jams and the limited supply. government investments. The theme of productivity should therefore definitely be higher on the election agenda,” says Leten.

Construction improves
However, there are also indicators that point to improvement in the short term. For example, almost a quarter more starters were added in March than a year ago (666). This is the third month in a row that we have recorded growth. Also good: the number of export certificates grew by 21.7% in March compared to February. However, it is not since 2014 that fewer certificates were issued in March. So nothing to write home about.

Good thing: construction! In December 2023, 553 building permits were issued, or 38.6% more than in November. This is the second most significant month-to-month expansion in the period since 2010. Non-residential construction is recording the strongest expansion figures at +90.7% for new construction and +100% for renovation. Growth remains more limited for residential new construction (+52.9%) and residential renovation (+2.5%).

Tourism trumps
The number of new vehicles is 26.6% higher in March than in February. For heavy freight, the expansion is limited to 6.5%, while for commercial vehicles (22.9%) and passenger cars (27.9%) it increases. This brings the total volume of new registrations to 3961 units. But despite the strong growth compared to February, the overall activity level remains -5.9% below the monthly average.

Finally: tourism. The number of arrivals increased by 6.3% in December. Although there was a decline of -2.6% for the number of overnight stays, the figure still remains 32% above the December average.

All in all: doing well. Hopefully there will be confirmation of the positive trend in the summer months.