The volume of production in construction fell by 2.7% in Quarter 3 2022 compared with Quarter 2 2022 on a seasonally adjusted basis.
On an annual basis, there was a 4.5% decrease in volume recorded.
The Residential Building sector declined by 16.2% in the seasonally adjusted volume index between Quarter 2 2022 and Quarter 3 2022.
The Non-Residential Building sector reduced its volume of output by 2.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis between Quarter 2 2022 and Quarter 3 2022.
The Civil Engineering sector rose by 10.3% in the seasonally adjusted volume index between Quarter 2 2022 and Quarter 3 2022.
The seasonally adjusted value index for All Building and Construction decreased by 1.8% on a quarterly basis and increased by 6.0% on an annual basis.
The headline table shows the seasonally adjusted volume and value indices for production in building and construction for Q3 2022, Q2 2022 and Q3 2021. It should be noted that the deflator (i.e., the Capital Goods price index) used in the calculation of the Production in Building and Construction Index has increased in recent months. See background notes and the Wholesale Price Index release for more details. Further information on seasonal adjustment is available in the CSO's video on Seasonal Adjustment.
| Seasonally Adjusted Production in Building and Construction Index | |||
| (Base Year 2015=100) | |||
| Volume Index | Value Index | ||
| Q3 2021 | 133.8 | 156.8 | |
| Q2 2022 | 131.3 | 169.2 | |
| Q3 2022 | 127.8 | 166.2 | |
| Quarterly % change | -2.7 | -1.8 | |
| Annual % change | -4.5 | 6.0 | |
Figure 1 shows the seasonally adjusted volume indices for All Building & Construction, Residential Building and Civil Engineering from Q3 2017 to the current quarter. The Residential and Non-Residential construction sectors showed decreases in seasonally adjusted volume in Q3 2022 in contrast to the Civil Engineering sector which recorded an increase in seasonally adjusted volume.
Figure 2 shows the seasonally adjusted volume indices for Q3 2019, Q3 2020, Q3 2021 and Q3 2022. Activity in the Building sector, which excludes Civil Engineering, remains below pre-pandemic levels with production volume decreasing by 15.4% between Quarter 3 2019 and Quarter 3 2022. Activity in the Civil Engineering sector has returned to pre-pandemic levels with production volume increasing by 6.5% over the same period.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (01 December 2022) released the Production in Building and Construction Index Quarter 3 2022 (Provisional) Quarter 2 (Final).
Commenting on the release, Shane O’Sullivan, Statistician in the Business Statistics Division, said: “The volume of production in construction fell by 2.7% in Quarter 3 2022 when compared with Quarter 2 2022 on a seasonally adjusted basis. On an annual basis, between Quarter 3 2021 and Quarter 3 2022, there was a decrease in production volume of 4.5%.
With regards to pre-pandemic levels, there was a reduction of 12.3% in construction activity from Quarter 3 2019 to Quarter 3 2022. During the same period the value of construction increased by 6.1%.
The Residential sector recorded a quarterly contraction of 16.2% in the seasonally adjusted volume index when compared with Quarter 2 2022 while the Non-Residential sector decreased by 2.8%. In contrast the Civil Engineering sector recorded an increase of 10.3% over the same period.
During the same period there was a 1.8% decrease in the seasonally adjusted value index for construction. On an annual basis the value index increased by 6.0%.”