The decline on the construction market is deepening
According to Statistics Estonia, in the 1st quarter of 2009 compared to the same period of the previous year, the total production of Estonian construction enterprises decreased about a third.
In the 1st quarter of 2009 the production value of construction enterprises amounted to 5.0 billion kroons, of which the production value of building construction was 3.2 billion kroons and the production of civil engineering totalled 1.8 billion kroons. Compared to the same period of 2008 the volume of building construction decreased 42% at constant prices. The volume of civil engineering stayed on the same level. The decline was caused mainly by the decreased volumes in dwelling construction on domestic construction market.
Contrary to the domestic construction market which is on decline stage the construction volume in foreign countries increased 6% compared to the same period a year ago. The growth was caused by the building construction.
According to the data of the Register of Construction Works, in the 1st quarter of 2009 the number of dwelling completions was 593, i.e. three times less than in the same period of 2008. More than half (58%) of completed dwellings were situated in blocks of flats. Since the second half of 2007 the demand for new dwellings has been continuously decreasing. In the 1st quarter of 2009 building permits were granted for the construction of 326 dwellings, which is about 3.5 times less compared to the same period of 2008. The most popular type of building was one-family dwelling.
In the 1st quarter of 2009, the number of completed non-residential buildings was 212 with the useful floor area of 260,000 square metres. The useful floor area of office and commercial buildings increased the most. Compared to the same period of 2008, the useful floor area and the cubic capacity of completed non-residential buildings increased.
Trend of construction volume index, 1st quarter 2000 – 1st quarter 2009
(average of quarters of 2005 = 100)
