Construction volume increased in the 1st quarter

In the 1st quarter of 2018, the production value of construction enterprises amounted to 559 million euros, of which the production value of building construction was 442 million euros and the production value of civil engineering was 117 million euros. Compared to the 1st quarter of 2017, the volume of building construction increased 27% and the volume of civil engineering by 4%.

Building construction contributed the most to the growth of the domestic construction market. Compared to the same period of the previous year, 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 approximately by one-half compared to the 1st quarter of 2017, mainly on account of smaller volume of building construction. Construction volume in foreign countries accounted for 5% of the total volume of construction in the 1st quarter of 2018; the share in the same period a year ago was 11%.

According to the Register of Construction Works, in the 1st quarter of 2018, the number of dwelling completions was 1,676, which is 414 dwellings more than in the same period a year ago. Approximately a half of the completed dwellings were in blocks of flats situated in Tallinn.

In the 1st quarter of 2018, building permits were granted for the construction of 1,524 dwellings, which is 14% less than in the 1st quarter of 2017. The most popular type of building was a block of flats.

The number of completed non-residential buildings was 246 with a useful floor area of 152,000 square metres – these were primarily new industrial and office premises. Compared to the 1st quarter of 2017, both the useful floor area and volume of completed non-residential buildings decreased.

The statistics are based on the questionnaire “Economic activity, quarter”, the submission date of which was 21 April 2018. Statistics Estonia published the quarterly summary in 23 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.