Construction - January 2010

Construction output decline owed to snow and drop of orders

In January 2010 seasonally adjusted construction output decreased by 22.0%, m-o-m, and by 25.6%, in the year-on-year comparison. The planning and building control authorities granted by 14.6% less building permits, year-on-year. Approximate value of permitted constructions increased by 15.2%, year-on-year. The number of started dwellings fell by 28.3% and completed dwellings dropped by 6.0%.

In January 2010 construction output decreased by 25.6% at constant prices, compared with January 2009, working days adjusted construction output fell by 24.6%. January 2010 had one working day less compared to January 2009. Seasonally adjusted construction output was 22.0% down in January, m-o-m. The slump in construction output owed to unfavourable weather conditions (in January 2010 the amount of precipitation was 20% up compared to average precipitation amount and average temperature was by 2.2°C lower compared to temperature mean) and also to the drop in new construction orders. Building construction output fell by 32.7% (contribution -25.6 p.p.) and the civil engineering output registered a decrease by 0.2% (contribution 0.0 p.p.).

The average registered number of employees in construction enterprises with 50 or more employees dropped by 7.8% compared with January 2009. Their average monthly nominal wage decreased by 0.3% compared with January 2009 and reached CZK 24 134.

In January 2010 the number of building permits granted was down by 14.6%, y-o-y, the planning and building control authorities granted 7 046 building permits. The approximate value of constructions accounted for CZK 28.6 billion and compared to corresponding period in 2009 it grew by 15.2% mainly due to permits granted for construction of photovoltaic power plants.

The number of dwellings started dropped by 28.3% compared to January 2009 to reach 2 075 dwellings. The number of dwellings started in family houses dropped by 42.3%, y-o-y, (contribution -22.1 p.p.). The number of dwellings started in residential buildings increased by 6.7% (contribution +1.9 p.p.).

The number of completed dwellings dropped by 6.0% compared to January 2009 and reached 3 087 dwellings. The number of completed dwellings in family houses increased by 6.7% (contribution +3.1 p.p.) and in residential buildings the number dropped by 10.5% (contribution -4.0 p.p.).
According to the Eurostat news release, WDA construction output in the EU 27 dropped by 3.3% in December 2009 compared with December 2008. Building construction fell by 4.9% and civil engineering increased by 5.0%. The data for January 2010 will be released by Eurostat at 11:00 a.m. on 17 March 2010.

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Notes:
Contacts:
Petra Curinova, phone (+420)274054199, e-mail: petra.curinova@czso.cz
Source of data: CZSO surveys
End of data collection: 2 March 2010
End of data processing: 5 March 2010

Published: 09.03.2010
The data are valid as of the release date of the publication.