Construction volumes up in first quarter of 2017
According to information released by Statistics Estonia on Friday morning, the total production of Estonian construction businesses in Estonia and foreign markets increased 20 percent on year in the first quarter of 2017.
Taking into account only the Estonian construction market, construction volumes increased 18 percent, marking the biggest increase in construction volumes in the last five years.
In the first quarter of 2017, the production value of construction businesses amounted to €453 million, of which the production value of building construction was €343 million adn the production value of civil engineering was €110 million. Compared to the first quarter of 2016, the volume of building construction increased 16 percent and the volume of civil engineering by more than one third.
Growth on the domestic construction market was supported by civil engineering, which resumed growth following a decline that began in 2014. Building construction, which has been stimulating the construction market, continued growing at the beginning of this year as well. Compared to the same period last year, construction volumes increased in new building construction as well as in repair and reconstruction work.
The construction volume of Estonian construction countries in foreign countries increased by nearly one half compared to the first quarter of 2016, affected mainly by growth in the construction of buildings. Construction volumes in foreign countries accounted for 11 percent of the total volume of construction in the first quarter of 2017.
According to the Register of Construction Works, in the first quarter of 2017, the number of dwelling completions was 1,264, which is 271 dwellings more than during the same period last year. Half of the completed dwellings were in blocks of apartments situated in Tallinn.
There is still a demand for new high-quality dwellings in good locations. In the first quarter of 2017, building permits were granted for the construction of 1,764 dwellings, which is over one third more than during the first quarter of 2016. The most popular type of building was the apartment block.
The number of completed non-residential buildings was 264, with a total useful floor area of 265,000 square metres — these were primarily new commercial and storage building. Compared to the first quarter of 2016, both the useful floor area and the volume of completed non-residential buildings increased.
Editor: Aili Vahtla