Construction volumes decreased in 2014
The production value of building construction was 1.3 billion euros and the production of civil engineering works totalled 809 million euros. Compared to 2013, the volume of building construction increased 3% and the volume of civil engineering decreased by a tenth.
The domestic construction market was influenced the most by a decrease in civil engineering volumes. Although, in the second half of 2014, the repair and reconstruction volumes in building construction also took a downturn, then considering the whole year, a small increase occurred. At the same time new building construction, which had taken an upturn already in 2013, continued its growth trend in 2014 as well.
The construction volume of Estonian construction enterprises in foreign countries decreased by a tenth compared to 2013, influenced mainly by the construction of buildings. Construction volumes in foreign countries accounted for 8% of the total volume of construction in 2014.
The number of dwelling completions increased for the third year in succession. According to the data of the Register of Construction Works, in 2014, the number of dwelling completions was 2,756, i.e. 677 dwellings more than the year earlier. The largest share of completed dwellings was situated in blocks of flats and every second dwelling had two or three rooms. The majority of completed dwellings were situated in Tallinn, in the neighbouring rural municipalities of Tallinn and in Tartu county.
There is still a demand for new dwellings with a good location and high quality. In 2014, building permits were granted for the construction of 3,941 dwellings, which is about a third more than in 2013. The most popular type of building was a block of flats.
In 2014, the number of completed non-residential buildings was 785 with a useful floor area of 529,000 square metres – this was primarily made up of new storage, industrial and agricultural premises. Compared to 2013, the useful floor area as well as the cubic capacity of completed non-residential buildings decreased.
In the 4th quarter, the construction market started growing again. In the 4th quarter of 2014, the production value of construction amounted to 596 million euros, which was 6% more than in the 4th quarter of 2013. The increase was primarily caused by the low reference base of the last quarter of 2013 in terms of civil engineering volumes.