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The construction industry could be facing a 鈥渓ost decade鈥� analyst Experian has said.

The firm鈥檚 winter forecast said a decade of zero or very low growth was a distinct possibility for the sector as public spending cuts bite and private sector growth remains elusive.

Experian鈥檚 latest forecast follows that of the Construction Products Association, which last week predicted a 5.2% fall in output in 2012 followed by a flat year in 2013 and the return of growth in 2014.

The coalition has already indicated that debt reduction is not running to plan

Experian

Experian鈥檚 report said: 鈥淒iscussion has already emerged along the lines of whether the UK is facing a 鈥榣ost decade鈥� in the style of Japan. In construction terms, this is certainly feasible.

鈥淭he coalition in its autumn statement has already indicated that debt reduction is not running to plan and a further two years of belt tightening may be needed in the public sector. Combine this with sluggish economic growth and it becomes difficult to see which sectors would be driving construction output growth.鈥�

Experian said the only sector it predicted to remain buoyant was infrastructure. It argued that the UK鈥檚 first new nuclear power station and the Crossrail project, which is due to peak in 2014, would see this sector bucking the trend.

However, it added that this would not be enough to drive growth across the construction industry after 2014.

Simon Rawlinson, head of strategic research at EC Harris, added: 鈥淚f no new sources of private finance for infrastructure emerge over the next three to four years and if the Green Deal doesn鈥檛 get going, there could well be the prospect of weak output growth over the next 10 years.鈥�

But he pointed out that the government鈥檚 infrastructure plan includes around 拢150bn of private investment, much of which is expected to be gained from pension funds.