Construction volume in the third quarter up on the domestic market, down abroad

In the third quarter, the total production value of Estonian construction enterprises was €1.1 billion, including €684 million worth of building construction and €455 million worth of civil engineering. Compared with the third quarter of last year, the volume of building construction was down by 1.9%, whereas the volume of civil engineering works (roads, bridges, port facilities, pipelines, communication and electricity lines, sports fields, etc.) was up by 1.6%.

Merike Sinisaar, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, pointed out that after the growth in the first quarter, construction volumes declined slightly in the second and third quarters. “However, in the first three quarters of this year, construction volumes were up by 0.6% compared with the first nine months of the previous year,” the analyst added.

“The slight growth on the domestic construction market was primarily due to increased volumes in new building construction and in the repair and reconstruction of civil engineering objects,” noted Sinisaar.

The construction volumes of Estonian construction enterprises operating abroad decreased by 12% compared with the third quarter of last year, mainly due to a fall in building construction volumes. Construction in foreign countries accounted for 7% of the total construction volume, down from 8% in 2024.

There were twice as many dwellings that received building permits

According to the Register of Construction Works, 1,301 new dwellings were completed – this is a fifth more than in the third quarter of 2024. The most popular types of residential buildings were detached house and block of flats with 3–5 storeys. The largest number of the completed new dwellings are in Tallinn, followed by the rural municipalities in the vicinity of Tallinn and Tartu.

In the third quarter, building permits were issued for the construction of 2,215 dwellings, which is twice as many as a year earlier. “The demand for new dwellings, which had been modest until now, increased after a long period of time. The last time the number of new dwellings for which building permits were issued exceeded 2,000 was in the final quarter of 2021,” Sinisaar stated. More than half of the new dwellings are located in Harju county, 24% of these in Tallinn. A block of flats remains the most popular type of residential building.

The number of completed non-residential buildings was 300, with a useful floor area of 289,000 square metres. New office, industrial, and storage premises accounted for the biggest share of completed non-residential buildings. Compared with the third quarter of 2024, there was an increase in both the useful floor area and the volume of completed non-residential buildings.

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.

Data as at 26 November are published. The indicator values may change if there are any revisions made in the data sources after this date.

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:

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

Photo: Shutterstock