Construction volume up by 5% in the first quarter

In the first quarter, the total production value of Estonian construction enterprises was €752 million, including €546 million worth of building construction and €206 million worth of civil engineering. Compared with the first quarter of last year, the volume of building construction was up by 10%, whereas the volume of civil engineering works (roads, bridges, port facilities, pipelines, communication and electricity lines, sports fields, etc.) was down by 6%.

Merike Sinisaar, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that the domestic construction market was mainly affected by the increased volume of building construction. “The construction of buildings has been in a slump since the second quarter of 2022, and the recent growth is mainly due to last year's low reference base,” Sinisaar pointed out.

“There was an increase both in new building construction and in the volume of repair and reconstruction works. The volume of civil engineering decreased in the first quarter, mainly due to a decline in new construction.

The construction volumes of Estonian construction enterprises operating abroad increased by nearly a third compared with the first quarter of 2024, mainly due to civil engineering. Construction in foreign countries accounted for 9% of the total construction volume, up from 7% in 2024.

According to the Register of Construction Works, 1,598 new dwellings were completed – this is almost a tenth less than in the first quarter of 2024. The majority of the new dwellings are in blocks of flats, and the most popular type of these buildings was a block of flats with 3–5 storeys. The largest number of the completed dwellings are in Tallinn, followed by the rural municipalities in the vicinity of Tallinn, and the city of Tartu.

In the first quarter, building permits were issued for the construction of 1,461 dwellings, which is 36% more than a year earlier. A block of flats remains the most popular type of residential building.

The number of completed non-residential buildings was 267, with a useful floor area of 167,200 square metres. New warehouse, commercial and industrial premises accounted for the biggest share of non-residential building construction.

Statistics Estonia collects and analyses data to produce construction statistics as commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, in order to understand how the Estonian economy is doing.

See also the construction section on our website. More detailed data have been published in the statistical database.

When using Statistics Estonia’s data and graphs, please indicate the source.
 

For further information:

Heidi Kukk
Media Relations Manager
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 5696 6484
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)

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