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For more information on this release:
E-mail: STS_RAP@cso.ie Mary Heanue (+353) 21 453 5714 Alan Finlay (+353) 21 453 5211 Sinéad Leyden (+353) 21 453 5523
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 3 2015 (Provisional) Quarter 2 2015 (Final)

Seasonally Adjusted Production in Building and Construction Index
(Base: Year 2010=100)
 Volume Index Value Index
Q3 2014 97.8 99.0
Q2 2015 108.1 108.7
Q3 2015 111.5 108.4
Quarterly % change 3.1% -0.3%
Annual % change 14.0% 9.5%

Building and Construction Output increased by 3.1% in 3rd quarter 2015

Seasonally Adjusted Volume of Production for Building Categories Q2 2015 and Q3 2015 (Base: Year 2010 = 100)
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The volume of output in building and construction increased by 3.1% in the third quarter of 2015 when compared with the preceding period.

This reflects an increase of 3.2% in the volume of residential building work. The volume of non-residential building work and civil engineering decreased by 4.0% and 2.6% respectively*.  The change in the value of production for all building and construction was -0.3%. See tables 1(a), 1(c), 2(a), 2(b) and graph. 

On an annual basis, the volume of output in building and construction increased by 14.0% in the third quarter of 2015*.  There was an increase of 9.5% in the value of production in the same period. See table 1(a).  The annual rise in the volume of output reflects year-on-year increases of 36.2% and 3.3% respectively in residential building and non-residential building work. The volume of output in civil engineering fell by 5.9% in the year to Quarter 3 2015.  See tables 1(c), 2(a), 2(b) and graph. 

*Given the unprecedented low base this series is starting from, the CSO will continue to monitor the quality and comparability of this new data series. 

 

X-axis labelQ32014Q42014Q12015Q22015Q32015
All Building
and Construction
97.8100101.5108.1111.5
Building (excluding civil engineering)99.5103.3108.2117.5115.9
Residential building87.195.498.3114.9118.6
Non-residential
building
110.3110.5116.7118.6113.9
Civil engineering95.692.591.992.490
Table 1(a) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in all Building and Construction1
        Base Year: 2010=100
   Value of Production Volume of Production
          
Period  Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change
          
2006  339.7 9.8 365.8 3.0
2007  308.8 -9.1 316.4 -13.5
2008  227.0 -26.5 225.6 -28.7
2009  141.5 -37.7 143.9 -36.2
2010  100.1 -29.2 100.2 -30.4
2011  81.1 -19.1 83.6 -16.5
2012  79.8 -1.6 80.1 -4.2
2013  89.3 12.0 89.5 11.7
2014  97.9 9.6 98.3 9.9
          
20061st quarter 341.67.019.3 369.40.712.0
 2nd quarter 328.2-3.95.7 358.3-3.00.4
 3rd quarter 330.40.72.8 364.51.7-0.7
 4th quarter 358.68.512.3 371.11.81.2
          
20071st quarter 323.6-9.8-5.3 343.3-7.5-7.1
 2nd quarter 324.30.2-1.2 336.0-2.1-6.2
 3rd quarter 300.2-7.4-9.1 304.6-9.3-16.4
 4th quarter 287.1-4.4-19.9 281.6-7.6-24.1
          
20081st quarter 263.0-8.4-18.7 262.0-7.0-23.7
 2nd quarter 242.0-8.0-25.4 240.8-8.1-28.3
 3rd quarter 217.2-10.2-27.6 212.0-12.0-30.4
 4th quarter 185.9-14.4-35.2 187.7-11.5-33.3
          
20091st quarter 168.3-9.5-36.0 166.4-11.3-36.5
 2nd quarter 147.0-12.7-39.3 148.6-10.7-38.3
 3rd quarter 134.2-8.7-38.2 140.4-5.5-33.8
 4th quarter 116.3-13.3-37.4 120.2-14.4-36.0
          
20101st quarter 107.6-7.5-36.1 105.9-11.9-36.4
 2nd quarter 105.1-2.3-28.5 105.2-0.7-29.2
 3rd quarter 96.4-8.3-28.2 99.2-5.7-29.3
 4th quarter 91.4-5.2-21.4 90.3-9.0-24.9
          
20111st quarter 82.4-9.8-23.4 84.2-6.8-20.5
 2nd quarter 78.8-4.4-25.0 81.1-3.7-22.9
 3rd quarter 80.92.7-16.1 83.12.5-16.2
 4th quarter 82.11.5-10.2 86.03.5-4.8
          
20121st quarter 82.0-0.1-0.5 82.3-4.3-2.3
 2nd quarter 76.5-6.7-2.9 77.7-5.6-4.2
 3rd quarter 77.20.9-4.6 78.10.5-6.0
 4th quarter 83.48.01.6 82.25.2-4.4
          
20131st quarter 84.10.82.6 86.75.55.3
 2nd quarter 87.03.413.7 87.91.413.1
 3rd quarter 92.66.419.9 91.94.617.7
 4th quarter 93.61.112.2 91.4-0.511.2
          
20141st quarter 93.70.111.4 96.05.010.7
 2nd quarter 99.05.713.8 99.43.513.1
 3rd quarter 99.00.06.9 97.8-1.66.4
 4th quarter 100.01.06.8 100.02.29.4
          
20151st quarter 104.04.011.0 101.51.55.7
 2nd quarter 108.74.59.8 108.16.58.8
 3rd quarter2 108.4-0.39.5 111.53.114.0
          
1Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 3, 2015
2Provisional
Table 1(b) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in Building (Excluding Civil Engineering)1
        Base Year: 2010=100
   Value of Production Volume of Production
          
Period  Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change  Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change
          
2006  448.8 8.3 484.8 2.4 
2007  393.0 -12.4 405.5 -16.4 
2008  269.4 -31.5 268.7 -33.7 
2009  148.7 -44.8 150.3 -44.0 
2010  100.0 -32.7 100.0 -33.5 
2011  84.4 -15.6 86.5 -13.5 
2012  75.6 -10.4 76.9 -11.1 
2013  87.4 15.5 88.2 14.7 
2014  98.2 12.4 98.2 11.3 
           
20061st quarter 452.36.116.5 498.24.811.1 
 2nd quarter 434.5-3.93.6 474.8-4.7-1.4 
 3rd quarter 431.2-0.81.9 471.3-0.7-3.4 
 4th quarter 477.210.712.0 494.95.04.1 
           
20071st quarter 413.0-13.5-8.7 430.5-13.0-13.6 
 2nd quarter 418.21.3-3.8 434.71.0-8.4 
 3rd quarter 378.4-9.5-12.2 391.2-10.0-17.0 
 4th quarter 362.5-4.2-24.0 365.4-6.6-26.2 
           
20081st quarter 321.1-11.4-22.3 321.0-12.2-25.4 
 2nd quarter 290.3-9.6-30.6 289.9-9.7-33.3 
 3rd quarter 252.4-13.1-33.3 252.3-13.0-35.5 
 4th quarter 213.6-15.4-41.1 211.4-16.2-42.1 
           
20091st quarter 184.6-13.6-42.5 185.4-12.3-42.2
 2nd quarter 157.1-14.9-45.9 159.1-14.2-45.1
 3rd quarter 136.0-13.4-46.1 138.3-13.1-45.2
 4th quarter 116.9-14.0-45.3 118.5-14.3-43.9
          
20101st quarter 104.8-10.4-43.2 105.4-11.1-43.1
 2nd quarter 99.4-5.2-36.7 99.4-5.7-37.5
 3rd quarter 100.51.1-26.1 100.10.7-27.6
 4th quarter 95.2-5.3-18.6 95.1-5.0-19.7
          
20111st quarter 88.0-7.6-16.0 89.4-6.0-15.2
 2nd quarter 83.9-4.7-15.6 86.3-3.5-13.2
 3rd quarter 82.6-1.5-17.8 85.0-1.5-15.1
 4th quarter 83.00.5-12.8 85.30.4-10.3
          
20121st quarter 79.6-4.1-9.5 81.3-4.7-9.1
 2nd quarter 74.9-5.9-10.7 75.8-6.8-12.2
 3rd quarter 73.8-1.5-10.7 75.1-0.9-11.6
 4th quarter 74.10.4-10.7 75.30.3-11.7
          
20131st quarter 79.77.60.1 80.56.9-1.0
 2nd quarter 85.37.013.9 85.96.713.3
 3rd quarter 90.15.622.1 91.16.121.3
 4th quarter 94.34.727.3 95.24.526.4
          
20141st quarter 94.2-0.118.2 94.4-0.817.3
 2nd quarter 95.71.612.2 95.51.211.2
 3rd quarter 99.54.010.4 99.54.29.2
 4th quarter 103.54.09.8 103.33.88.5
          
20151st quarter 109.55.816.2 108.24.714.6
 2nd quarter 119.08.724.3 117.58.623.0
 3rd quarter2 116.6-2.017.2 115.9-1.416.5
          
1Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 3, 2015
2Provisional
Table 1(c) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in Civil Engineering 1
        Base Year: 2010=100
   Value of Production Volume of Production
          
Period  Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change
          
2006  140.3 19.1 151.5 12.6
2007  153.7 9.6 158.3 4.5
2008  149.2 -3.0 148.5 -6.2
2009  128.0 -14.2 129.4 -12.9
2010  99.7 -22.2 99.7 -22.9
2011  75.0 -24.8 77.1 -22.7
2012  88.2 17.6 89.8 16.5
2013  93.1 5.6 94.0 4.7
2014  97.2 4.3 97.0 3.1
          
20061st quarter 136.65.236.2 151.23.029.9
 2nd quarter 134.0-1.921.3 145.4-3.815.6
 3rd quarter 138.53.46.1 149.22.60.1
 4th quarter 152.09.717.0 160.07.29.0
          
20071st quarter 154.21.412.9 161.30.86.7
 2nd quarter 154.30.115.1 159.7-1.09.8
 3rd quarter 152.0-1.59.7 155.1-2.94.0
 4th quarter 154.31.51.5 156.91.2-1.9
          
20081st quarter 152.2-1.4-1.3 153.1-2.4-5.1
 2nd quarter 156.83.01.6 156.32.1-2.1
 3rd quarter 149.6-4.6-1.6 148.1-5.2-4.5
 4th quarter 138.0-7.8-10.6 136.4-7.9-13.1
          
20091st quarter 135.4-1.9-11.0 137.00.4-10.5
 2nd quarter 130.4-3.7-16.8 132.1-3.6-15.5
 3rd quarter 129.1-1.0-13.7 130.6-1.1-11.8
 4th quarter 117.2-9.2-15.1 117.7-9.9-13.7
          
20101st quarter 111.6-4.8-17.6 113.6-3.5-17.1
 2nd quarter 116.94.7-10.4 117.43.3-11.1
 3rd quarter 85.7-26.7-33.6 83.8-28.6-35.8
 4th quarter 84.4-1.5-28.0 84.10.4-28.5
          
20111st quarter 74.1-12.2-33.6 76.3-9.3-32.8
 2nd quarter 70.7-4.6-39.5 72.9-4.5-37.9
 3rd quarter 75.36.5-12.1 75.73.8-9.7
 4th quarter 79.75.8-5.6 83.310.0-1.0
          
20121st quarter 87.29.417.7 89.17.016.8
 2nd quarter 80.7-7.514.1 81.9-8.112.3
 3rd quarter 82.21.99.2 81.2-0.97.3
 4th quarter 102.524.728.6 106.831.528.2
          
20131st quarter 92.5-9.86.1 92.6-13.33.9
 2nd quarter 91.3-1.313.1 92.1-0.512.5
 3rd quarter 97.06.218.0 96.34.618.6
 4th quarter 91.7-5.5-10.5 95.0-1.3-11.0
          
20141st quarter 93.01.40.5 92.0-3.2-0.6
 2nd quarter 107.315.417.5 107.717.116.9
 3rd quarter 97.3-9.30.3 95.6-11.2-0.7
 4th quarter 91.1-6.4-0.7 92.5-3.2-2.6
          
20151st quarter 93.62.70.6 91.9-0.6-0.1
 2nd quarter 93.0-0.6-13.3 92.40.5-14.2
 3rd quarter2 91.9-1.2-5.5 90.0-2.6-5.9
          
1 Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 3, 2015
2 Provisional
Table 2(a) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in Residential Building 1
        Base Year: 2010=100
   Value of Production Volume of Production
          
Period  Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change
          
2006  814.2 7.6 877.2 1.5
2007  672.7 -17.4 692.9 -21.0
2008  384.6 -42.8 383.9 -44.6
2009  159.3 -58.6 161.2 -58.0
2010  100.2 -37.1 100.3 -37.8
2011  71.4 -28.8 73.1 -27.1
2012  63.0 -11.7 64.1 -12.3
2013  70.2 11.4 70.9 10.6
2014  82.8 17.8 82.7 16.6
          
20061st quarter 820.59.914.2 891.85.59.5
 2nd quarter 791.9-3.50.8 858.3-3.8-3.7
 3rd quarter 784.4-0.91.0 861.50.4-4.9
 4th quarter 859.99.615.2 897.14.16.1
          
20071st quarter 718.1-16.5-12.5 748.8-16.5-16.0
 2nd quarter 733.22.1-7.4 758.11.2-11.7
 3rd quarter 639.6-12.8-18.5 659.6-13.0-23.4
 4th quarter 599.7-6.2-30.3 605.0-8.3-32.6
          
20081st quarter 493.3-17.7-31.3 497.3-17.8-33.6
 2nd quarter 426.3-13.6-41.9 424.7-14.6-44.0
 3rd quarter 355.9-16.5-44.4 352.5-17.0-46.6
 4th quarter 262.9-26.1-56.2 260.9-26.0-56.9
          
20091st quarter 211.3-19.6-57.2 213.8-18.1-57.0
 2nd quarter 168.4-20.3-60.5 170.7-20.2-59.8
 3rd quarter 138.7-17.6-61.0 140.0-18.0-60.3
 4th quarter 118.9-14.3-54.8 120.4-14.0-53.9
          
20101st quarter 105.8-11.0-49.9 106.8-11.3-50.0
 2nd quarter 102.9-2.7-38.9 103.6-3.0-39.3
 3rd quarter 101.4-1.5-26.9 100.4-3.1-28.3
 4th quarter 90.5-10.7-23.9 90.3-10.1-25.0
          
20111st quarter 79.5-12.2-24.9 80.5-10.9-24.6
 2nd quarter 69.1-13.1-32.8 71.6-11.1-30.9
 3rd quarter 66.6-3.6-34.3 68.6-4.2-31.7
 4th quarter 70.25.4-22.4 71.74.5-20.6
          
20121st quarter 67.7-3.6-14.8 68.7-4.2-14.7
 2nd quarter 62.0-8.4-10.3 63.4-7.7-11.5
 3rd quarter 63.01.6-5.4 64.00.9-6.7
 4th quarter 59.4-5.7-15.4 60.4-5.6-15.8
          
20131st quarter 73.924.49.2 74.022.57.7
 2nd quarter 70.0-5.312.9 70.7-4.511.5
 3rd quarter 68.5-2.18.7 69.3-2.08.3
 4th quarter 68.50.015.3 69.60.415.2
          
20141st quarter 71.13.8-3.8 70.91.9-4.2
 2nd quarter 77.99.611.3 77.49.29.5
 3rd quarter 87.512.327.7 87.112.525.7
 4th quarter 94.58.038.0 95.49.537.1
          
20151st quarter 99.85.640.4 98.33.038.6
 2nd quarter 117.517.750.8 114.916.948.4
 3rd quarter2 119.82.036.9 118.63.236.2
          
1 Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 3, 2015
2 Provisional
Table 2(b) Seasonally Adjusted Indices of Production in Non-Residential Building 1
        Base Year: 2010=100
   Value of Production Volume of Production
          
Period  Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change Index% change on previous periodAnnual % change
          
2006  169.9 12.0 183.7 6.0
2007  180.1 6.0 185.6 1.0
2008  181.5 0.8 180.9 -2.5
2009  140.4 -22.6 142.0 -21.5
2010  99.7 -29.0 99.7 -29.7
2011  95.7 -4.0 98.1 -1.7
2012  86.5 -9.6 88.0 -10.3
2013  102.2 18.2 103.2 17.3
2014  111.7 9.3 111.6 8.1
          
20061st quarter 173.74.427.0 191.61.921.6
 2nd quarter 168.6-2.914.0 183.7-4.18.1
 3rd quarter 165.4-1.96.2 178.0-3.10.1
 4th quarter 171.93.93.3 181.52.0-3.5
          
20071st quarter 179.44.43.3 187.43.3-2.2
 2nd quarter 181.91.47.9 188.10.42.4
 3rd quarter 184.01.211.2 187.7-0.25.4
 4th quarter 174.9-4.91.7 179.0-4.6-1.4
          
20081st quarter 186.46.63.9 186.54.2-0.5
 2nd quarter 188.71.23.7 187.60.6-0.3
 3rd quarter 177.6-5.9-3.5 176.2-6.1-6.1
 4th quarter 173.3-2.4-0.9 173.1-1.8-3.3
          
20091st quarter 161.8-6.6-13.2 162.6-6.1-12.8
 2nd quarter 150.0-7.3-20.5 151.5-6.8-19.2
 3rd quarter 134.9-10.1-24.0 136.9-9.6-22.3
 4th quarter 115.0-14.8-33.6 116.8-14.7-32.5
          
20101st quarter 103.2-10.3-36.2 103.9-11.0-36.1
 2nd quarter 96.0-7.0-36.0 95.9-7.7-36.7
 3rd quarter 100.44.6-25.6 100.14.4-26.9
 4th quarter 99.1-1.3-13.8 99.0-1.1-15.2
          
20111st quarter 95.5-3.6-7.5 96.9-2.1-6.7
 2nd quarter 96.71.30.7 99.52.73.8
 3rd quarter 96.2-0.5-4.2 99.0-0.5-1.1
 4th quarter 94.3-2.0-4.8 96.9-2.1-2.1
          
20121st quarter 90.4-4.1-5.3 92.3-4.7-4.7
 2nd quarter 85.6-5.3-11.5 86.9-5.9-12.7
 3rd quarter 83.3-2.7-13.4 84.6-2.6-14.5
 4th quarter 86.74.1-8.1 88.14.1-9.1
          
20131st quarter 85.5-1.4-5.4 86.3-2.0-6.5
 2nd quarter 98.114.714.6 99.114.814.0
 3rd quarter 108.911.030.7 110.011.030.0
 4th quarter 116.46.934.3 117.46.733.3
          
20141st quarter 114.0-2.133.3 114.5-2.532.7
 2nd quarter 111.0-2.613.1 111.1-3.012.1
 3rd quarter 110.7-0.31.7 110.3-0.70.3
 4th quarter 111.10.4-4.6 110.50.2-5.9
          
20151st quarter 117.55.83.1 116.75.61.9
 2nd quarter 119.71.97.8 118.61.66.8
 3rd quarter2 115.0-3.93.9 113.9-4.03.3
          
1 Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 3, 2015
2 Provisional

Background Notes

Production in Building & Construction Index

 

The quarterly 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 primary purpose of the index is to measure changes in value added at constant prices.

The principal difference between the value and volume indices is that the volume index traces the quantitative volume of production (i.e. effect of price changes excluded) each quarter. The Capital Goods price index for Building and Construction was used as the price deflator for this series.

This series is also available using the interactive tables in the CSO’s Statbank 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 2010 = 100. The underlying structural weighting system is based on annual output in the Building and Construction sector as published in "The Irish Construction Industry in 2012" produced by DKM Economic Consultants for the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI), which presents annual output for reference year 2010.

Legal Basis

The Quarterly Survey of Construction (QSC) is carried out in accordance with the Statistics (Quarterly Survey of Construction) Order 2009, Number 73 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 adjustments are completed by applying the X-12-ARIMA model, developed by the U.S. Census Bureau to the working day adjusted data. 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-12-Arima see (Findley, D.F., B.C. Monsell, W.R. Bell, M.C Otto, and B. Chen (1998), “New Capabilities and Methods of the X-12-Arima Seasonal Adjustment Program”, Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 16, pp. 127-177.) and www.census.gov/srd/www/x12a/ .

Methodology

A detailed description of the methodology is available within the Surveys and Methodology area on the CSO website at: 

http://www.cso.ie/en/surveysandmethodology/construction/quarterlyconstruction/

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 9.8% in the annual volume of production in building and construction, between 2013 and 2014. In the same period, employment in the sector, as measured by the QNHS, rose by 3.5%. 

For residential buildings, the QSC shows an increase of 16.6% in the annual volume of production between 2013 and 2014. The house completions series shows an increase of 32.7% 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 11.4% in residential building in 2014 when compared with 2013.

 

Table A: Comparison of Building and Construction sector indicators        
  New CSO Series   Other Indicators
  Seasonally Adjusted Volume of production in building and construction3
Seasonally Adjusted  Volume of production in civil engineering Seasonally Adjusted Volume of production in residential building3   Persons  Employed in the Construction Sector1 House Completions2 House Commencements2
  Index Index Index   No. No. No.
  2010=100 2010=100 2010=100        
2006 365.8 151.5 877.2   251,700 88,187 75,602
2007 316.4 158.3 692.9   273,900 78,027 48,876
2008 225.6 148.5 383.9   246,100 51,724 22,852
2009 143.9 129.4 161.2   158,200 26,420 8,599
2010 100.2 99.7 100.3   126,500 14,602 6,391
2011 83.6 77.1 73.1   106,400 10,480 4,365
2012 80.1 89.8 64.1   99,600 8,488 4,042
2013
89.5 94.0 70.9   102,700 8,301 4,708
2014
98.3  97.0 82.7   106,300 11,016 5,247
1 Quarterly National Household Survey, April - June quarter, NACE Rev. 2.        
2 Source Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.        
3 Seasonally Adjusted series introduced in Q1 2010.        
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