In 2018, construction volume increased

Construction volume increased for the third consecutive year. Also the level of 2007, which was so far the best year for the construction market, was exceeded last year. The production value of building construction was two billion euros and the production of civil engineering works totalled one billion euros. Compared to 2017, the volume of building construction increased 18% and the volume of civil engineering nearly a fifth.

Building construction contributed the most to the growth of the domestic construction market. Compared to 2017, construction volume increased in new building construction as well as in repair and reconstruction work. The growth was supported also by civil engineering.

The construction volume of Estonian construction enterprises in foreign countries decreased 13% compared to 2017, mainly on account of smaller volume of building construction. Construction volumes in foreign countries accounted for 6% of the total volume of construction in 2018.

New dwelling construction continued its growth trend for the seventh year. According to the data of the Register of Construction Works, in 2018, the number of dwelling completions was 6,472, which is 582 dwellings more than the year before. As in previous years, the majority of completed dwellings were situated in Tallinn, followed by the rural municipalities in the vicinity of Tallinn, and in Tartu county. The majority of completed dwellings had two or four rooms. The floor area of completed dwellings was 90 square metres on average.

Although the number of building permits issued for the construction of dwellings began to decrease in 2018, there is still demand for new high-quality dwellings in a good location. In 2018, building permits were granted for the construction of 6,990 dwellings, which is a tenth less than in 2017. The most popular type of residential building was a block of flats.

In 2018, the number of completed non-residential buildings was 1,000, with a useful floor area of 1.1 billion square metres – these were primarily new industrial and trade premises and offices. Compared to 2017, the useful floor area as well as the cubic capacity of completed non-residential buildings increased.

The statistics are based on the questionnaire “Economic activity, quarter”, the submission date of which was 21 January 2019. Statistics Estonia published the quarterly summary in 24 working days. For the statistical activity “Financial statistics of enterprises (quarterly)”, the main representative of public interest is the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, commissioned by whom Statistics Estonia collects and analyses the data necessary for conducting the statistical activity.