Third quarter construction volumes up 27 percent on year
The total output of Estonian construction businesses in Estonia and abroad in the third quarter of 2017 was up 20 percent on year, and up 27 percent when taking into account the construction market of Estonia alone, Statistics Estonia reported on Monday.
The production value of construction businesses amounted to €747 million in the third quarter, the production value of building construction of which was €474 million and the production value of civil engineering €272 million. Compared to the third quarter of 2016, the volume of building construction increased by 17 percent and the volume of civil engineering by one fourth.
Building construction contributed the most to the growth of the domestic construction market. Compared to the same period last year, construction volumes increased in new building construction as well as in repair and reconstruction work. Growth was also supported by civil engineering, which resumed growth at the beginning of this year.
The construction volume of Estonian construction businesses in foreign countries decreased by approximately one-third compared to the third quarter of 2016, due mainly to smaller volumes of building construction. Construction volumes in foreign countries accounted for seven percent of the total volume of construction in the third quarter of 2017, down from 13 percent during the same period last year.
According to the Register of Construction Works, 1,475 dwellings were completed during the third quarter of 2017, 391 more than during the same period last year. Approximately half of the completed dwellings were in apartment blocks located in Tallinn.
Demand remains for new high-quality dwellings in good locations. In the third quarter of 2017, building permits were granted for the construction of 1,820 dwellings, marking an increase by more than one-fifth over the third quarter of 2016.
A total of 323 non-residential buildings were completed during the third quarter, with a total of 159,000 square meters of useful floor area. Compared to the third quarter of last year, both the useful floor area and the volume of completed non-residential buildings had decreased.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS