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Production in Building and Construction Index Q1 2023 (Provisional) and Q4 2022 (Final)

Building and Construction output up 7.5% in Quarter 1 2023

Online ISSN: 2009-5228
CSO statistical publication, , 11am
Advisory Note

Users should exercise caution when comparing the Production in Building & Construction Index and the New Dwellings Completions releases as a result of timing and other comparability issues. For example, while the work completed by the firm on a residential building could take place over several months, the New Dwelling Completions will only count the building as completed when it has been connected to the ESB electricity network.

Key Findings

  • The volume of production in construction rose by 7.5% in Q1 2023 compared with Q4 2022 on a seasonally adjusted basis.

  • On an annual basis there was a 2.8% increase in volume of production recorded.

  • The seasonally adjusted volume index for the Non-Residential Building sector grew by 12.9% between Q4 2022 and Q1 2023.

  • The Residential Building sector showed an increase of 7.1% in volume in Q1 2023 compared with Q4 2022.

  • Between Q4 2022 and Q1 2023 the seasonally adjusted volume index for the Civil Engineering sector rose by 4.6%.

  • The seasonally adjusted value index for All Building and Construction increased by 7.7% on a quarterly basis and by 11.6% on an annual basis.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (01 June 2023) released the Production in Building and Construction Index Q1 2023 (Provisional) and Q4 2022 (Final).

Commenting on the release, Shane O’Sullivan, Statistician in the Business Statistics Division, said: “The volume of production in construction rose by 7.5% in Quarter 1 (Q1) 2023 when compared with Q4 2022 on a seasonally adjusted basis. On an annual basis, between Q1 2022 and Q1 2023, production volume increased by 2.8%.

With regards to pre-pandemic levels, there was a reduction of 13.3% in the volume of construction activity from Q1 2020 to Q1 2023. During the same period the value of construction grew by 4.6%.

All sectors recorded a quarterly increase in the seasonally adjusted volume index in Q1 2023 when compared with Q4 2022. Non-Residential Building rose by 12.9%, Residential Building by 7.1%, and Civil Engineering by 4.6%.

Similarly, the seasonally adjusted value index for construction also increased (+7.7%) when comparing Q4 2022 with Q1 2023. On an annual basis the value index increased by 11.6%.

Graphs and Tables

The headline table shows the seasonally adjusted volume and value indices for production in building and construction for Q1 2022, Q4 2022, and Q1 2023. It should be noted that the deflator, the Capital Goods Price Index, used in the calculation of the Production in Building and Construction Index (PBCI) has increased in recent months and shows a 9.2% increase in Q1 2023 when compared with Q1 2022. 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
Q1 2022133.8 161.0
Q4 2022128.0 166.8
Q1 2023137.6 179.6
Quarterly % change7.5 7.7
Annual % change2.8 11.6

Figure 1 shows the seasonally adjusted volume indices for All Building and Construction, Residential Building, Non-Residential Building, and Civil Engineering sectors from Q1 2018 to the current quarter. All sectors showed an increase in seasonally adjusted volume in Q1 2023.

Figure 1: Seasonally Adjusted Volume of Production in Building and Construction Indices, Q1 2018 - Q1 2023

Figure 2 shows the seasonally adjusted volume indices for Q1 2020, Q1 2021, Q1 2022, and Q1 2023. Activity in the Building sector, which excludes Civil Engineering, remains below pre-pandemic levels with production volume decreasing by 13.3% between Q1 2020 and Q1 2023. Similarly, the Residential, Non-Residential and Civil Engineering sectors all showed a decrease in production volume over the same period.

Figure 2: Seasonally Adjusted Volume of Production by Quarter and Type of Activity
1(a) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in All Building and Construction

1(b) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in Building (excluding Civil Engineering)

1(c) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in Civil Engineering

2(a) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in Residential Building

2(b) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in Non-Residential Building