Statistics: Estonia's 2024 construction volumes still in decline in Q1
In the first quarter of 2024, the total production value of construction enterprises in Estonia and abroad decreased by 13 percent on year, with volumes down by 14 percent on the domestic construction market, Statistics Estonia said Monday.
Construction enterprises' combined production value totaled €707 million, including €491 million worth of building construction and €216 million worth of civil engineering, according to a press release.
Compared with the first quarter of 2023, building construction volumes decreased by nearly one-fifth, while the volume of civil engineering works – including roads, bridges, port facilities, pipelines, communications and electricity lines as well as sports fields – increased by 1 percent.
Leading analyst Merike Sinisaar said that Estonia's domestic construction market was mainly affected by the decreased volume of building construction.
"The construction of buildings has been in decline since the second quarter of 2022," she noted.
The construction volume of Estonian construction enterprises operating abroad, meanwhile, increased by 2 percent on year, due mainly to building construction. Construction in foreign countries accounted for 7 percent of total construction volumes, up from 6 percent in the first quarter of 2023.
According to Estonia's centralized register of construction works, a total of 1,764 new homes were completed in the first quarter of this year, down 21 percent on year. The majority of these new homes are located in apartment buildings, the most popular type of which was 3- to 5-story apartment buildings. Most of these completed homes are located in Tallinn, followed by municipalities in the Tallinn metro area and in Tartu County.
"Demand for new homes continues to fall," Sinisaar noted. "Building permits were issued for the construction of 1,077 homes, which is nearly one fifth – 19 percent – fewer than a year earlier."
Apartment buildings remained the most popular type of residential building, the analyst added.
Another 260 nonresidential buildings were completed in the first quarter as well, with a combined useful floor area of 171,100 square meters. New office, industrial and storage premises accounted for the largest share of non-residential building construction.
Compared with the first quarter of 2023, there was a decline on year in both useful floor area and volumes of completed nonresidential buildings.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla
