On the domestic construction market, volumes fell by 3 percent on year, the agency said, though growth was seen in non-residential builds.

Statistics Estonia said total production value of construction enterprises came to €994 million in Q2 2024, including €602 million-worth of building construction, and €392 million in civil engineering.

Leading analyst at Statistics Estonia Merike Sinisaar pointed out that, once again, the domestic construction market was mainly affected by falling volumes of building construction.

She said: "There was a decline both in new building construction and in the volume of repair and reconstruction works."

"The volume of civil engineering remained practically at the same level as it was last year (up by 1 percent)," Sinisaar went on, via a press release.

Compared with the second quarter of 2023, the volume of building construction fell by nearly a tenth, whereas the volume of civil engineering works (meaning roads, bridges, port facilities, pipelines, communication and electricity lines, sports fields, etc.) rose, by 2 percent, over the same time-frame.

Estonian construction firms operating abroad saw a 16 percent fall in volumes on year to Q2 2024, Statistics Estonia said, also mainly due to the decreased volume of building construction.

Construction in countries outside Estonia accounted for 7 percent of the total construction volume, down from 8 percent in 2023.

According to the Register of Construction Works, 1,221 new dwellings were completed in Q2 2024, a fall of 42 percent on year.

Sinisaar said: "Although the majority of the completed dwellings are still in blocks of flats, the share of detached houses has increased from quarter to quarter. The largest number of completed dwellings was located in the rural municipalities in the vicinity of Tallinn."

Of rosier signs for the future, in Q2 2024, building permits were issued for the construction of 1,641 dwellings, nearly twice as many as in Q2 2023, the agency added.

Apartment blocks remain the most popular type of residential building.

Additionally, 252 non-residential buildings were completed, covering a useful floor area of 193,500 square meters, Statistics Estonia reports. Both metrics saw an on-year growth.

New storage, industrial, and commercial premises accounted for the largest share of non-residential building

Statistics Estonia compiled the above study on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

More detailed information is available from Statistics Estonia's website here and here.

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