The Czech construction sector has failed to keep pace with the growth of the economy over the last twenty years. While the real output of the Czech economy is today almost half as high again as in 2005, construction output has grown over the same period by only 7.3 percent. The president of the Czech Chamber of Commerce (HK ČR), Zdeněk Zajíček, pointed this out at the Fórum stavebnictví conference held as part of the FOR ARCH trade fair.
The main thrust of his comment was that current growth is supported above all by demand accumulated in previous years. Construction, however, continues to be held back by persistent, even chronic obstacles that the state should resolve.
While real GDP in 2025 reached 147.7 percent of the 2005 level and construction work prices rose to 169.7 percent, real construction output reached only 107.3 percent. It’s that gap that Zajíček believes the state must zero in on. “As recently as 2024, real construction output had in essence not even reached the level it was at before the financial crisis. Meanwhile the Czech economy grew markedly, and construction work prices grew even faster. The results of one strong year change nothing about that,” said Chamber of Commerce president Zdeněk Zajíček.
He was referring in that last comment to the fact that 2025 was an exceptionally strong year for construction. The value of construction work rose 13.7% y-o-y to CZK 791 billion. Construction output increased by 10.9 percent, of which building construction by 10.5 percent and civil engineering by 11.5 percent.
By contrast, output has been again falling in 2026.
“Last year’s numbers are undoubtedly good,” said Zajíček. “But we should not interpret them as meaning Czech construction has been cured. For the most part, we’re just seeing the realization of demand and projects that accumulated over many years. The weak spot remains the state’s ability to create the conditions for projects to be prepared and permitted faster,” said Zajíček.
While a new construction law appears to be on the horizon, the state still needs to translate the reform into practice. It will have to retain experienced officials and manage their transfer into the new unified building administration. Above all it must finally get the digital tools running that will actually help people and companies.
“Czechia cannot afford more years of waiting,” said the HK ČR president.
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