Construction buyers reported the fastest decline in activity in more than five years last month.

The latest bellwether S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index paints a grim picture of weakening order books and little good news ahead as construction braces itself for a doom-laden budget.

The index registered 44.1 in October, down from 46.2 in September and below the 50 no- change mark for the tenth consecutive month.

October marked the longest period of continuous decline since the global financial crisis more than 15 years ago.

Civil engineering led the slide (index at 35.4), with business activity falling sharply with firms blaming a lack of new work to replace completed projects.

Residential work (index at 43.6) also decreased markedly at the greatest pace for eight months while commercial building activity showed some resilience as the latest index reading (46.3) was little-changed since September.

There were also increasing reports that elevated political and economic uncertainty had discouraged client spending.

But business activity expectations for the year ahead were positive overall in October with 34% of the survey panel predicting a rise in output, while 20% forecast a reduction.

Tim Moore, Economics Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: “UK construction companies reported another challenging month in October as the prolonged weakening of order books so far in 2025 resulted in the fastest decline in business activity for over five years. Civil engineering and residential activity saw the fastest rates of contraction, while commercial building showed some resilience.

“Reduced workloads were again widely attributed to risk aversion and delayed decision-making among clients, which contributed to a slower-than-expected release of new projects. Subdued demand in the wake of heightened political and economic uncertainty also led to the steepest drop in input buying since May 2020.

“Meanwhile, some positive signals for the construction sector in October included a slowdown in cost inflation to its lowest for one year, rising subcontractor availability, and a sustained improvement in supplier performance.

“Looking ahead, business activity expectations for the coming 12 months remained much weaker than the long-run survey average, largely due to worries about fragile investment sentiment and weak sales pipelines. However, overall optimism levels edged up to the highest since July as the prospect of lower borrowing costs reportedly helped to boost demand projections.”