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For more information on this release:
E-mail: business_stats@cso.ie Sarah O'Connell (+353) 21 453 5379 Deirdre O'Connor (+353) 21 453 5206 Alan Finlay (+353) 21 453 5211
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-5228
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Production in Building and Construction Index

Quarter 2 2019 (Provisional) Quarter 1 2019 (Final)

Seasonally Adjusted Production in Building and Construction Index
(Base: Year 2015=100)
 Volume Index Value Index
Q2 2018143.4 150.5
Q1 2019155.3 168.5
Q2 2019159.6 171.0
Quarterly % change2.8% 1.5%
Annual % change11.3% 13.6%

Civil Engineering output up 21.0% in Quarter 2 2019, overall index increased by 2.8%

Figure 1: Seasonally Adjusted Volume of Production for Building Categories Q3 2009 to Q2 2019
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Overall construction activity has increased by 2.8% in Quarter 2 2019 but Civil Engineering has seen the largest increase with a rise of 21.0% in the seasonally adjusted volume index. Residential Building is also up on the previous quarter with an increase of 8.3% in volume while Non-Residential Building activity is down 3.1% in the seasonally adjusted index.

Output in the Residential sector has doubled since 2015 with the Residential index over 200 for the first time since 2008. However, it is still significantly lower than its peak of 854.4 in Quarter 1 2006.

The year on year change for Civil Engineering is even more significant with a volume increase of 56.4% compared with the same period last year. Residential Building activity is up 16.2% year on year and Non-Residential activity has increased by 1.8% since the second quarter of 2018.

In the last quarter, the Non-Residential seasonally adjusted volume index has decreased from 153.6 to 148.9. Further information on seasonal adjustment is available in the CSO’s video on seasonal adjustment. See tables 1(a), 1(c), 2(a), 2(b) and graphs.

X-axis labelQ2 2018Q3 2018Q4 2018Q1 2019Q2 2019
All Building
and Construction		143.4150.8152.4155.3159.6
Building (excluding
Civil Engineering)		149.6154.1155.7159.7156.2
Residential Building172.8174.2179.7185.4200.8
Non-Residential
Building		146.3152.2152.8153.6148.9
Civil Engineering107.6133.1142.2139.1168.3
Table 1(a) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in all Building and Construction1
       Base Year: 2015=100
  Value of Production Volume of Production
Period Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change
2006 318.9 9.9 348.0 3.9
2007 289.6 -9.2 301.9 -13.2
2008 212.9 -26.5 214.6 -28.9
2009 132.7 -37.7 135.5 -36.8
2010 93.9 -29.2 94.9 -30.0
2011 76.0 -19.1 78.7 -17.1
2012 74.9 -1.5 76.9 -2.3
2013 83.8 12.0 85.4 11.1
2014 91.9 9.6 92.7 8.6
2015 100.1 9.0 100.1 8.0
2016 113.2 13.0 112.4 12.3
2017 133.2 17.7 130.0 15.7
2018 155.0 16.3 147.0 13.0
         
20061st quarter320.26.119.4 361.66.014.2
 2nd quarter309.6-3.35.7 342.7-5.20.0
 3rd quarter305.1-1.52.3 330.2-3.6-2.6
 4th quarter340.711.712.9 357.48.24.8
         
20071st quarter302.7-11.2-5.5 323.2-9.6-10.6
 2nd quarter305.00.8-1.5 320.3-0.9-6.5
 3rd quarter278.6-8.7-8.7 287.1-10.4-13.1
 4th quarter272.1-2.3-20.1 277.0-3.5-22.5
         
20081st quarter246.2-9.5-18.7 250.9-9.4-22.4
 2nd quarter227.1-7.8-25.5 228.6-8.9-28.6
 3rd quarter202.7-10.7-27.2 203.6-10.9-29.1
 4th quarter175.5-13.4-35.5 175.3-13.9-36.7
         
20091st quarter157.7-10.1-35.9 160.5-8.4-36.0
 2nd quarter137.4-12.9-39.5 140.4-12.5-38.6
 3rd quarter126.1-8.2-37.8 129.4-7.8-36.4
 4th quarter109.4-13.2-37.7 111.8-13.6-36.2
         
20101st quarter101.0-7.7-36.0 102.6-8.2-36.1
 2nd quarter98.0-3.0-28.7 99.0-3.5-29.5
 3rd quarter90.5-7.7-28.2 91.1-8.0-29.6
 4th quarter86.1-4.9-21.3 86.7-4.8-22.5
         
20111st quarter77.5-10.0-23.3 79.4-8.4-22.6
 2nd quarter73.0-5.8-25.5 75.9-4.4-23.3
 3rd quarter76.14.2-15.9 79.14.2-13.2
 4th quarter77.41.7-10.1 80.21.4-7.5
         
20121st quarter77.1-0.4-0.5 79.4-1.00.0
 2nd quarter70.8-8.2-3.0 72.5-8.7-4.5
 3rd quarter72.82.8-4.3 74.83.2-5.4
 4th quarter78.78.11.7 80.77.90.6
         
20131st quarter78.80.12.2 80.2-0.61.0
 2nd quarter80.62.313.8 82.12.413.2
 3rd quarter87.78.820.5 89.79.319.9
 4th quarter88.10.511.9 89.5-0.210.9
         
20141st quarter87.5-0.711.0 88.6-1.010.5
 2nd quarter92.45.614.6 93.45.413.8
 3rd quarter93.51.26.6 94.61.35.5
 4th quarter94.00.56.7 94.1-0.55.1
         
20151st quarter100.36.714.6 100.16.413.0
 2nd quarter101.31.09.6 101.61.58.8
 3rd quarter97.0-4.23.7 97.6-3.93.2
 4th quarter101.95.18.4 101.13.67.4
         
20161st quarter104.82.84.5 103.72.63.6
 2nd quarter114.18.912.6 114.210.112.4
 3rd quarter116.72.320.3 116.82.319.7
 4th quarter117.10.314.9 114.9-1.613.6
         
20171st quarter135.415.629.2 131.814.727.1
 2nd quarter127.3-6.011.6 125.3-4.99.7
 3rd quarter130.32.411.7 128.12.29.7
 4th quarter139.87.319.4 134.95.317.4
         
20181st quarter146.95.18.5 141.34.77.2
 2nd quarter150.52.518.2 143.41.514.4
 3rd quarter159.35.822.3 150.85.217.7
 4th quarter163.22.416.7 152.41.113.0
         
20191st quarter168.53.214.7 155.31.99.9
 2nd quarter2171.01.513.6 159.62.811.3
1Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 2, 2019
2Provisional
Open in Excel: Production in Building and Construction Index Quarter 2 2019 Table 1a (XLS 14KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 1(b) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in Building (Excluding Civil Engineering)1
       Base Year: 2015=100
  Value of Production Volume of Production
Period Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change  Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change
2006 395.7 8.4 432.2 2.5
2007 347.2 -12.3 361.1 -16.4
2008 238.1 -31.4 239.3 -33.7
2009 131.4 -44.8 133.9 -44.0
2010 88.2 -32.8 89.1 -33.5
2011 74.5 -15.6 77.1 -13.5
2012 66.8 -10.4 68.5 -11.1
2013 77.1 15.5 78.6 14.7
2014 86.8 12.6 87.5 11.4
2015 100.0 15.3 100.0 14.3
2016 115.2 15.1 114.4 14.3
2017 139.4 21.0 136.2 19.1
2018 159.5 14.5 151.3 11.1
         
20061st quarter400.57.516.8 446.74.511.4
 2nd quarter386.7-3.43.9 422.3-5.5-1.3
 3rd quarter380.1-1.71.8 412.0-2.4-4.3
 4th quarter415.59.311.6 447.68.64.7
         
20071st quarter366.6-11.8-8.5 385.7-13.8-13.7
 2nd quarter372.71.7-3.6 386.80.3-8.4
 3rd quarter333.1-10.6-12.4 342.2-11.5-16.9
 4th quarter316.5-5.0-23.8 329.8-3.6-26.3
         
20081st quarter284.6-10.1-22.4 287.3-12.9-25.5
 2nd quarter258.3-9.2-30.7 257.7-10.3-33.4
 3rd quarter222.1-14.0-33.3 222.5-13.7-35.0
 4th quarter187.4-15.6-40.8 189.7-14.7-42.5
         
20091st quarter163.3-12.9-42.6 165.6-12.7-42.4
 2nd quarter139.4-14.6-46.0 141.4-14.6-45.1
 3rd quarter119.6-14.2-46.2 123.0-13.0-44.7
 4th quarter103.1-13.8-45.0 105.7-14.1-44.3
         
20101st quarter92.6-10.2-43.3 94.0-11.1-43.2
 2nd quarter87.8-5.2-37.0 88.3-6.1-37.6
 3rd quarter88.50.8-26.0 89.51.4-27.2
 4th quarter84.0-5.1-18.5 84.6-5.5-20.0
         
20111st quarter77.8-7.4-16.0 79.6-5.9-15.3
 2nd quarter74.0-4.9-15.7 76.7-3.6-13.1
 3rd quarter72.7-1.8-17.9 75.9-1.0-15.2
 4th quarter73.41.0-12.6 76.00.1-10.2
         
20121st quarter70.4-4.1-9.5 72.4-4.7-9.0
 2nd quarter65.8-6.5-11.1 67.4-6.9-12.1
 3rd quarter65.2-0.9-10.3 67.0-0.6-11.7
 4th quarter65.60.6-10.6 67.20.3-11.6
         
20131st quarter70.37.2-0.1 71.76.7-1.0
 2nd quarter74.86.413.7 76.26.313.1
 3rd quarter79.76.622.2 81.26.621.2
 4th quarter83.54.827.3 85.14.826.6
         
20141st quarter82.9-0.717.9 84.3-0.917.6
 2nd quarter83.60.811.8 84.30.010.6
 3rd quarter88.35.610.8 88.44.98.9
 4th quarter92.24.410.4 92.95.19.2
         
20151st quarter98.26.518.5 98.86.417.2
 2nd quarter101.33.221.2 100.92.119.7
 3rd quarter98.4-2.911.4 97.8-3.110.6
 4th quarter102.23.910.8 102.64.910.4
         
20161st quarter105.02.76.9 105.22.56.5
 2nd quarter115.910.414.4 114.79.013.7
 3rd quarter120.13.622.1 118.53.321.2
 4th quarter119.6-0.417.0 119.00.416.0
         
20171st quarter140.317.333.6 138.716.631.8
 2nd quarter134.5-4.116.0 130.6-5.813.9
 3rd quarter137.72.414.7 133.72.412.8
 4th quarter144.95.221.2 141.76.019.1
         
20181st quarter149.53.26.6 145.72.85.0
 2nd quarter159.06.418.2 149.62.714.5
 3rd quarter164.63.519.5 154.13.015.3
 4th quarter164.90.213.8 155.71.09.9
         
20191st quarter171.54.014.7 159.72.69.6
 2nd quarter2169.1-1.46.4 156.2-2.24.4
1Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 2, 2019
2Provisional
Open in Excel: Production in Building and Construction Index Quarter 2 2019 Table 1b (XLS 14KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 1(c) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in Civil Engineering 1
       Base Year: 2015=100
  Value of Production Volume of Production
Period Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change
2006 149.3 19.2 163.0 12.7
2007 163.7 9.7 170.4 4.5
2008 159.0 -2.9 160.1 -6.0
2009 136.7 -14.0 139.6 -12.8
2010 107.4 -21.5 108.4 -22.3
2011 79.7 -25.8 82.5 -23.9
2012 93.7 17.5 96.2 16.6
2013 99.2 6.0 100.9 4.9
2014 103.5 4.3 104.2 3.2
2015 100.3 -3.0 100.2 -3.8
2016 104.2 3.9 103.5 3.3
2017 104.6 0.4 102.2 -1.3
2018 134.4 28.4 127.5 24.8
         
20061st quarter146.15.137.8 163.93.231.3
 2nd quarter142.9-2.222.1 155.9-4.916.1
 3rd quarter146.62.65.4 159.62.4-0.4
 4th quarter161.610.216.3 172.48.08.6
         
20071st quarter166.12.813.7 175.61.97.1
 2nd quarter165.9-0.116.1 172.6-1.710.7
 3rd quarter160.1-3.59.2 164.9-4.53.3
 4th quarter162.81.70.7 168.32.1-2.4
         
20081st quarter164.41.0-1.0 166.5-1.1-5.2
 2nd quarter170.13.52.5 170.32.3-1.3
 3rd quarter157.2-7.6-1.8 157.2-7.7-4.7
 4th quarter144.2-8.3-11.4 146.2-7.0-13.1
         
20091st quarter147.01.9-10.6 148.81.8-10.6
 2nd quarter141.8-3.5-16.6 144.2-3.1-15.3
 3rd quarter136.3-3.9-13.3 139.1-3.5-11.5
 4th quarter121.7-10.7-15.6 126.2-9.3-13.7
         
20101st quarter121.2-0.4-17.6 122.3-3.1-17.8
 2nd quarter127.25.0-10.3 127.84.5-11.4
 3rd quarter91.0-28.5-33.2 91.0-28.8-34.6
 4th quarter90.1-1.0-26.0 92.61.8-26.6
         
20111st quarter76.8-14.8-36.6 77.6-16.2-36.5
 2nd quarter74.7-2.7-41.3 77.5-0.1-39.4
 3rd quarter80.57.8-11.5 83.17.2-8.7
 4th quarter86.87.8-3.7 91.810.5-0.9
         
20121st quarter92.86.920.8 94.12.521.3
 2nd quarter84.7-8.713.4 86.8-7.812.0
 3rd quarter87.73.58.9 89.43.07.6
 4th quarter109.424.726.0 114.428.024.6
         
20131st quarter98.2-10.25.8 98.3-14.14.5
 2nd quarter95.4-2.912.6 97.5-0.812.3
 3rd quarter104.49.419.0 105.98.618.5
 4th quarter98.9-5.3-9.6 102.0-3.7-10.8
         
20141st quarter97.5-1.4-0.7 97.5-4.4-0.8
 2nd quarter112.815.718.2 114.317.217.2
 3rd quarter105.5-6.51.1 105.9-7.30.0
 4th quarter98.0-7.1-0.9 99.1-6.4-2.8
         
20151st quarter103.85.96.5 103.24.15.8
 2nd quarter105.01.2-6.9 105.42.1-7.8
 3rd quarter94.1-10.4-10.8 93.9-10.9-11.3
 4th quarter98.44.60.4 98.34.7-0.8
         
20161st quarter99.41.0-4.2 98.70.4-4.4
 2nd quarter108.08.72.9 107.79.12.2
 3rd quarter106.7-1.213.4 106.0-1.612.9
 4th quarter102.8-3.74.5 101.5-4.23.3
         
20171st quarter106.53.67.1 104.42.95.8
 2nd quarter96.7-9.2-10.5 94.6-9.4-12.2
 3rd quarter102.25.7-4.2 99.95.6-5.8
 4th quarter113.010.69.9 109.89.98.2
         
20181st quarter131.316.223.3 127.015.721.6
 2nd quarter114.0-13.217.9 107.6-15.313.7
 3rd quarter141.023.738.0 133.123.733.2
 4th quarter151.17.233.7 142.26.829.5
20191st quarter150.6-0.314.7 139.1-2.29.5
 2nd quarter2181.920.859.6 168.321.056.4
1Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 2, 2019
2Provisional
Open in Excel: Production in Building and Construction Index Quarter 2 2019 Table 1c (XLS 14KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 2(a) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in Residential Building 1
       Base Year: 2015=100
  Value of Production Volume of Production
Period Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change
2006 749.8 7.6 818.5 1.7
2007 619.4 -17.4 645.5 -21.1
2008 354.1 -42.8 357.0 -44.7
2009 146.8 -58.6 150.0 -58.0
2010 92.3 -37.1 93.3 -37.8
2011 65.8 -28.7 68.1 -27.0
2012 58.1 -11.7 59.7 -12.4
2013 64.7 11.5 66.0 10.6
2014 76.6 18.3 77.2 17.0
2015 100.1 30.7 100.1 29.6
2016 135.3 35.2 134.3 34.3
2017 174.2 28.7 170.1 26.6
2018 185.2 6.3 175.6 3.3
         
20061st quarter755.49.814.2 854.49.48.9
 2nd quarter729.0-3.50.8 800.7-6.3-4.1
 3rd quarter722.1-0.91.0 778.6-2.8-4.9
 4th quarter792.59.715.2 840.47.97.6
         
20071st quarter661.2-16.6-12.5 706.0-16.0-17.4
 2nd quarter674.72.0-7.4 707.10.2-11.7
 3rd quarter588.7-12.7-18.5 599.7-15.2-23.0
 4th quarter552.9-6.1-30.2 569.1-5.1-32.3
         
20081st quarter454.3-17.8-31.3 464.0-18.5-34.3
 2nd quarter391.9-13.7-41.9 395.9-14.7-44.0
 3rd quarter327.6-16.4-44.4 324.1-18.1-46.0
 4th quarter242.6-25.9-56.1 243.9-24.7-57.1
         
20091st quarter194.6-19.8-57.2 199.1-18.4-57.1
 2nd quarter154.7-20.5-60.5 158.9-20.2-59.9
 3rd quarter127.5-17.6-61.1 129.1-18.8-60.2
 4th quarter110.2-13.6-54.6 112.8-12.6-53.8
         
20101st quarter97.2-11.8-50.1 99.2-12.1-50.2
 2nd quarter94.4-2.9-39.0 96.1-3.1-39.5
 3rd quarter93.1-1.4-27.0 92.7-3.5-28.2
 4th quarter84.3-9.5-23.5 85.0-8.3-24.6
         
20111st quarter72.8-13.6-25.1 74.7-12.1-24.7
 2nd quarter63.1-13.3-33.2 66.3-11.2-31.0
 3rd quarter61.2-3.0-34.3 63.0-5.0-32.0
 4th quarter65.97.7-21.8 68.38.4-19.6
         
20121st quarter61.6-6.5-15.4 63.3-7.3-15.3
 2nd quarter56.4-8.4-10.6 58.4-7.7-11.9
 3rd quarter57.92.7-5.4 59.01.0-6.3
 4th quarter56.4-2.6-14.4 57.9-1.9-15.2
         
20131st quarter66.618.18.1 67.716.97.0
 2nd quarter63.2-5.112.1 64.8-4.311.0
 3rd quarter62.9-0.58.6 63.9-1.48.3
 4th quarter66.25.217.4 67.55.616.6
         
20141st quarter63.4-4.2-4.8 64.1-5.0-5.3
 2nd quarter70.010.410.8 70.510.08.8
 3rd quarter80.014.327.2 80.614.326.1
 4th quarter92.916.140.3 93.616.138.7
         
20151st quarter97.75.254.1 97.94.652.7
 2nd quarter101.53.945.0 100.83.043.0
 3rd quarter99.6-1.924.5 99.9-0.923.9
 4th quarter101.41.89.1 101.61.78.5
         
20161st quarter122.921.225.8 122.520.625.1
 2nd quarter140.114.038.0 138.513.137.4
 3rd quarter136.6-2.537.1 136.1-1.736.2
 4th quarter141.63.739.6 140.23.038.0
         
20171st quarter157.411.228.1 154.410.126.0
 2nd quarter166.35.718.7 162.35.117.2
 3rd quarter187.512.737.3 183.312.934.7
 4th quarter185.4-1.130.9 180.3-1.628.6
         
20181st quarter181.5-2.115.3 175.8-2.513.9
 2nd quarter182.80.79.9 172.8-1.76.5
 3rd quarter185.01.2-1.3 174.20.8-5.0
 4th quarter191.33.43.2 179.73.2-0.3
         
20191st quarter200.04.510.2 185.43.25.5
 2nd quarter2216.78.318.5 200.88.316.2
1 Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 2, 2019
2 Provisional
Open in Excel: Production in Building and Construction Index Quarter 2 2019 Table 2a (XLS 14KB)
upArrowHide Table
Table 2(b) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in Non-Residential Building 1
       Base Year: 2015=100
  Value of Production Volume of Production
Period Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change
2006 144.8 11.9 158.0 5.9
2007 153.6 6.0 159.7 1.1
2008 154.8 0.8 155.7 -2.6
2009 118.9 -23.2 121.3 -22.1
2010 84.9 -28.6 85.7 -29.4
2011 81.4 -4.1 84.3 -1.7
2012 73.5 -9.8 75.4 -10.5
2013 87.8 19.6 89.5 18.6
2014 94.9 8.0 95.7 7.0
2015 99.9 5.3 100.0 4.4
2016 112.3 12.4 111.5 11.5
2017 133.7 19.1 130.6 17.2
2018 155.8 16.5 147.6 13.0
         
20061st quarter147.83.426.2 164.61.221.1
 2nd quarter143.8-2.713.8 157.9-4.17.8
 3rd quarter138.5-3.75.6 151.3-4.2-0.3
 4th quarter149.27.74.3 158.34.6-2.7
         
20071st quarter152.42.13.1 160.61.5-2.4
 2nd quarter153.80.97.0 160.60.01.7
 3rd quarter154.70.611.7 160.0-0.45.8
 4th quarter153.4-0.82.8 157.7-1.4-0.4
         
20081st quarter157.02.33.0 158.80.7-1.1
 2nd quarter157.90.62.7 158.6-0.1-1.2
 3rd quarter150.6-4.6-2.7 151.2-4.7-5.5
 4th quarter153.51.90.1 154.01.9-2.3
         
20091st quarter135.6-11.7-13.6 137.6-10.6-13.4
 2nd quarter124.8-8.0-21.0 127.3-7.5-19.7
 3rd quarter115.2-7.7-23.5 118.4-7.0-21.7
 4th quarter99.8-13.4-35.0 102.0-13.9-33.8
         
20101st quarter88.6-11.2-34.7 89.9-11.9-34.7
 2nd quarter80.9-8.7-35.2 81.6-9.2-35.9
 3rd quarter85.45.6-25.9 86.25.6-27.2
 4th quarter84.6-0.9-15.2 85.0-1.4-16.7
         
20111st quarter82.2-2.8-7.2 84.1-1.1-6.5
 2nd quarter81.8-0.51.1 84.91.04.0
 3rd quarter82.00.2-4.0 85.50.7-0.8
 4th quarter79.6-2.9-5.9 82.5-3.5-2.9
         
20121st quarter78.4-1.5-4.6 80.6-2.3-4.2
 2nd quarter73.4-6.4-10.3 75.2-6.7-11.4
 3rd quarter70.3-4.2-14.3 72.2-4.0-15.6
 4th quarter71.72.0-9.9 73.61.9-10.8
         
20131st quarter75.45.2-3.8 76.84.3-4.7
 2nd quarter83.410.613.6 85.010.713.0
 3rd quarter93.011.532.3 94.811.531.3
 4th quarter99.57.038.8 101.26.837.5
         
20141st quarter98.2-1.330.2 99.6-1.629.7
 2nd quarter93.3-5.011.9 94.1-5.510.7
 3rd quarter94.10.91.2 94.80.70.0
 4th quarter93.9-0.2-5.6 94.4-0.4-6.7
         
20151st quarter99.35.81.1 99.45.3-0.2
 2nd quarter101.52.28.8 101.42.07.8
 3rd quarter97.1-4.33.2 97.2-4.12.5
 4th quarter101.84.88.4 101.94.87.9
         
20161st quarter103.82.04.5 103.21.33.8
 2nd quarter112.18.010.4 111.37.89.8
 3rd quarter116.74.120.2 116.14.319.4
 4th quarter116.5-0.214.4 115.4-0.613.2
         
20171st quarter136.317.031.3 133.715.929.6
 2nd quarter129.2-5.215.3 126.1-5.713.3
 3rd quarter129.40.210.9 126.50.39.0
 4th quarter140.08.220.2 136.27.718.0
         
20181st quarter143.62.65.4 139.22.24.1
 2nd quarter154.87.819.8 146.35.116.0
 3rd quarter161.94.625.1 152.24.020.3
 4th quarter162.80.616.3 152.80.412.2
         
20191st quarter165.01.414.9 153.60.510.3
 2nd quarter2160.6-2.73.7 148.9-3.11.8
1 Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 2, 2019
2 Provisional
Open in Excel: Production in Building and Construction Index Quarter 2 2019 Table 2b (XLS 16KB)
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Background Notes

Production in Building & Construction Index

 

Introduction of updated series with base year 2015=100

The Production in Building and Construction Index provides quarterly statistics on output in the sector. The index monitors trends in the value and the volume of production in building and construction. The index is primarily intended to function as a short-term indicator. For long term analysis, the annual Building and Construction Inquiry is recommended.

The principal difference between the value and volume indices is that the value index measures changes in the value of work done while the volume index tracks the quantitative volume of production by excluding the effect of price changes using a price deflator. The Capital Goods price index for Building and Construction is used as the price deflator for this series.

This series is also available using the interactive tables in Statbank, the CSO’s Main Data Dissemination Service on www.cso.ie 

 

Reference Periods

The Production in Building and Construction Index is carried out on a quarterly basis (i.e. the first quarter covers January, February and March etc.).

 

Base Year

The set of indices, based on the Laspeyres Index, has been compiled with reference to base year 2015=100. The underlying structural weighting system for the output categories (Residential Building, Non-Residential Building and Civil Engineering) is based on the annual Building and Construction Inquiry, which provides Building and Civil weights, combined with the new Dwelling Completions data to generate Residential weights. The sample for the index is stratified by size class based on number of persons employed: A (0 – 4), B (5 -19), C (20-99) and D (>99). Size class weights were produced using the Building and Construction Inquiry 2015 and the Quarterly National Household Survey Q2 2015.

    

Legal Basis

The Quarterly Survey of Construction (QSC) is carried out in accordance with the Statistics (Quarterly Survey of Construction) Order 2017 (S.I. No. 23 of 2017), made under the 1993 Statistics Act. The statistics are also required for EU comparisons under Council Regulation (EC) No. 1165/98 which has been amended by Regulation (EC) No. 1893/2006 with the introduction of NACE Rev. 2.

 

Scope and Coverage

The Production in Building and Construction Index covers, on a sample basis, the production of all firms in the private (i.e. non-State) sector whose main activity is building, construction or civil engineering i.e. firms classified to division F of the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 2). Approximately 2,400 firms are surveyed each quarter.

 

Seasonal Adjustment

Seasonal Adjustment is conducted using the direct seasonal adjustment approach. Under this approach, each individual series is independently adjusted. Each individual seasonally adjusted series is calculated based on working day adjusted data.

The seasonal adjustments are implemented using the X-13-ARIMA methodology. This is applied using the Win X-13 software package, developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. This methodology estimates seasonal factors while also taking into consideration factors that impact on the quality of the seasonal adjustment such as outliers and level shifts in the series.

For additional information on the use of X-13-Arima see Monsell B. C., Lytras, D., and Findley, D. ‘Getting Started with X-13 ARIMA SEATS Input Files’, March 2016 available at www.census.gov/srd/www/x13as/.

 

Methodology

A description of the methodology is available within the Methods area on the CSO website at: 

Production in Building and Construction Index Methodology

 

Comparison with other national series

There are differences (due to timing, definitions and other factors) between the quarterly and annual trends measured by this survey and by other national data sources. In particular the quarterly series from the QSC show considerable volatility. Table A, below, compares the main annual results of the survey with national employment and house building indicators. 

The series shows an increase of 12.1% in the annual volume of production in building and construction between 2017 and 2018. In the same period, employment in the sector, as measured by the Labour Force Survey, rose by 13.8%. 

For residential buildings, the QSC shows an increase of 4% in the annual volume of production between 2017 and 2018. The New Dwellings Completions series shows an increase of 25.4% in the same period.

Data on house-building commencements, a relatively new leading indicator, are also included in Table A. This indicator shows an increase of 27.9% in residential building in 2018 when compared with 2017.

Table A: Comparison of Building and Construction sector indicators        
   CSO Series   Other Indicators
  Seasonally Adjusted Volume of Production in Building and Construction3

Seasonally Adjusted Volume of Production in Civil Engineering3

 Seasonally Adjusted Volume of Production in Residential Building3   Persons  Employed in the Construction Sector1 New Dwelling Completions5
 House Commencements2
  Index Index Index   No. No. No.
  2015=100 2015=100 2015=100        
2006 348.0 163.0 818.6   219,100 - 75,602
2007 301.9 170.3 645.5   240,000 - 48,876
2008 214.6 160.1 357.0   214,000 - 22,852
2009 135.5 139.6 150.0   132,800 - 8,599
2010 94.9 108.4 93.3   104,400 - 6,391
2011 78.7 82.5 68.1   86,800 6,994 4,365
2012 76.9 96.1 59.6   81,300 4,911 4,042
2013 85.4 101.0 66.0   86,200 4,575 4,708
20144 92.7 104.3 77.2   90,800 5,518 7,717
2015 100.1 100.3 100.1   109,000 7,219 8,747
2016 112.5 103.6 134.4   119,400 9,916 13,234
2017 130.1
 102.3 170.1   128,000 14,407 17,572
2018 145.9 126.8 176.9   145,700 18,072 22,467
1 Labour Force Survey, April - June quarter, NACE Rev. 2.
2 Source: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government.
3 Seasonally Adjusted series introduced in Q1 2015.
4 In 2014 there was a change in the methodology for the Housing data collated by the DHPCLG.  Previously the data was collated from 37 Building Control Areas by the DHPCLG. This was updated in 2014 with the data now being drawn from a database held by the Local Government Management Agency updated directly by developers/ builders on line or by the local authority.
5 New Dwelling Completions series introduced in Q1 2018 with coverage starting in 2011.

 

 

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