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For more information on this release:
E-mail: business_stats@cso.ie Paul Murphy (+353) 21 453 5201 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 1 2018 (Provisional) Quarter 4 2017 (Final)

Seasonally Adjusted Production in Building and Construction Index
(Base: Year 2010=100)
 Volume Index Value Index
Q1 2018 167.0 169.6
Q4 2017 155.5 162.5
Q1 2017 138.5 143.6
Quarterly % change 7.4% 4.4%
Annual % change 20.6% 18.1%

Building and Construction Output increased by 7.4% in 1st quarter 2018

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The volume of output in building and construction increased by 7.4% in the first quarter of 2018 when compared with the preceding period.

This reflects increases of 5.6%, 5.5% and 1.1% respectively in the volume of residential building work, non-residential building work and civil engineering work. The change in the value of building and construction in the same period was +4.4%. 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 20.6% in the first quarter of 2018 when compared with the fourth quarter of 2017*. Output volumes increased by 30.0%, 10.1%, and 8.1% respectively in residential building, civil engineering and non-residential building work in the year to end Quarter 1, 2018. There was an increase of 18.1% in the value of production in the same period. See tables 1(a), 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 labelQ12017Q22017Q32017Q42017Q12018
All Building
and Construction		138.5143.3151.3155.5167
Building (excluding civil engineering)160.3166.7174.2181.6189.8
Residential building164.2173.6195.3202.1213.5
Non-residential
building		158.3158.7158.6162.2171.2
Civil engineering99.199.2105.2107.9109.1
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 9.8 366.4 3.1
2007 308.8 -9.1 316.3 -13.7
2008 227.0 -26.5 225.2 -28.8
2009 141.5 -37.7 143.8 -36.2
2010 100.1 -29.2 100.2 -30.3
2011 81.0 -19.1 83.7 -16.5
2012 79.8 -1.5 80.2 -4.1
2013 89.4 12.0 89.5 11.6
2014 98.0 9.7 98.3 9.8
2015 106.7 8.9 106.4 8.2
2016 126.9 18.9 125.1 17.6
2017 152.2 20.0 147.2 17.7
         
20061st quarter341.67.019.3 367.8-0.111.7
 2nd quarter328.2-3.95.7 358.4-2.60.4
 3rd quarter330.40.72.8 365.42.0-0.6
 4th quarter358.68.512.3 374.02.41.6
         
20071st quarter323.6-9.8-5.3 340.4-9.0-7.4
 2nd quarter324.30.2-1.2 336.2-1.2-6.2
 3rd quarter300.2-7.4-9.1 306.0-9.0-16.3
 4th quarter287.1-4.4-19.9 282.7-7.6-24.4
         
20081st quarter263.0-8.4-18.7 261.2-7.6-23.3
 2nd quarter242.0-8.0-25.4 240.9-7.8-28.3
 3rd quarter217.2-10.2-27.6 211.6-12.2-30.8
 4th quarter185.9-14.4-35.2 187.2-11.5-33.8
         
20091st quarter168.3-9.5-36.0 166.8-10.9-36.1
 2nd quarter147.0-12.7-39.3 148.6-10.9-38.3
 3rd quarter134.2-8.7-38.2 139.9-5.9-33.9
 4th quarter116.3-13.3-37.4 119.8-14.4-36.0
         
20101st quarter107.6-7.5-36.1 106.2-11.4-36.3
 2nd quarter105.0-2.4-28.6 105.1-1.0-29.3
 3rd quarter96.4-8.2-28.2 98.9-5.9-29.3
 4th quarter91.5-5.1-21.3 90.4-8.6-24.5
         
20111st quarter82.4-9.9-23.4 84.1-7.0-20.8
 2nd quarter78.6-4.6-25.1 81.1-3.6-22.8
 3rd quarter80.92.9-16.1 83.22.6-15.9
 4th quarter82.21.6-10.2 86.33.7-4.5
         
20121st quarter82.0-0.2-0.5 82.3-4.6-2.1
 2nd quarter76.2-7.1-3.1 77.6-5.7-4.3
 3rd quarter77.31.4-4.4 78.51.2-5.6
 4th quarter83.68.21.7 82.55.1-4.4
         
20131st quarter84.10.62.6 86.65.05.2
 2nd quarter86.52.913.5 87.51.012.8
 3rd quarter92.87.320.1 92.05.117.2
 4th quarter94.01.312.4 92.00.011.5
         
20141st quarter93.8-0.211.5 95.94.210.7
 2nd quarter98.04.513.3 98.42.612.5
 3rd quarter99.21.26.9 97.3-1.15.8
 4th quarter101.01.87.4 101.54.310.3
         
20151st quarter103.62.610.4 101.0-0.55.3
 2nd quarter107.23.59.4 106.65.58.3
 3rd quarter105.5-1.66.4 106.70.19.7
 4th quarter110.64.89.5 111.14.19.5
         
20161st quarter116.25.112.2 114.43.013.3
 2nd quarter129.311.320.6 128.212.120.3
 3rd quarter130.71.123.9 126.9-1.018.9
 4th quarter131.30.518.7 130.73.017.6
         
20171st quarter143.69.423.6 138.56.021.1
 2nd quarter147.32.613.9 143.33.511.8
 3rd quarter155.45.518.9 151.35.619.2
 4th quarter162.54.623.8 155.52.819.0
         
20181st quarter2169.64.418.1 167.07.420.6
1Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 1, 2018
2Provisional
Open in Excel: Production in Building & Construction Index Quarter 1 2018 Table 1a (XLS 92KB)
upArrowHide Table
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 8.4 484.8 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 -32.8 100.0 -33.5
2011 84.4 -15.6 86.5 -13.5
2012 75.6 -10.4 76.9 -11.1
2013 87.4 15.6 88.2 14.7
2014 98.4 12.6 98.3 11.4
2015 113.4 15.3 112.4 14.3
2016 140.9 24.2 138.6 23.3
2017 176.5 25.3 170.7 23.2
         
20061st quarter452.46.216.5 498.24.811.1
 2nd quarter434.5-4.03.6 474.8-4.7-1.4
 3rd quarter431.3-0.71.9 471.3-0.7-3.4
 4th quarter476.910.612.0 494.95.04.1
         
20071st quarter413.2-13.4-8.7 430.6-13.0-13.6
 2nd quarter418.21.2-3.8 434.71.0-8.4
 3rd quarter378.4-9.5-12.3 391.2-10.0-17.0
 4th quarter362.3-4.3-24.0 365.4-6.6-26.2
         
20081st quarter321.3-11.3-22.2 321.0-12.2-25.5
 2nd quarter290.4-9.6-30.6 289.9-9.7-33.3
 3rd quarter252.2-13.2-33.4 252.2-13.0-35.5
 4th quarter213.7-15.3-41.0 211.5-16.1-42.1
         
20091st quarter184.7-13.6-42.5 185.4-12.3-42.2
 2nd quarter157.2-14.9-45.9 159.2-14.1-45.1
 3rd quarter135.8-13.6-46.2 138.1-13.3-45.2
 4th quarter117.0-13.8-45.3 118.6-14.1-43.9
         
20101st quarter104.9-10.3-43.2 105.5-11.0-43.1
 2nd quarter99.3-5.3-36.8 99.3-5.9-37.6
 3rd quarter100.31.0-26.1 100.00.7-27.6
 4th quarter95.3-5.0-18.5 95.2-4.8-19.7
         
20111st quarter88.1-7.6-16.0 89.4-6.1-15.3
 2nd quarter83.8-4.9-15.6 86.2-3.6-13.2
 3rd quarter82.5-1.6-17.7 84.9-1.5-15.1
 4th quarter83.20.8-12.7 85.50.7-10.2
         
20121st quarter79.6-4.3-9.6 81.3-4.9-9.1
 2nd quarter74.6-6.3-11.0 75.6-7.0-12.3
 3rd quarter73.8-1.1-10.5 75.1-0.7-11.5
 4th quarter74.50.9-10.5 75.60.7-11.6
         
20131st quarter79.77.00.1 80.56.5-1.0
 2nd quarter84.56.013.3 85.46.113.0
 3rd quarter90.26.722.2 91.26.821.4
 4th quarter95.25.527.8 95.85.026.7
         
20141st quarter94.1-1.218.1 94.3-1.617.1
 2nd quarter94.0-0.111.2 94.50.210.7
 3rd quarter99.76.110.5 99.35.18.9
 4th quarter105.76.011.0 105.15.89.7
         
20151st quarter109.13.215.9 107.72.514.2
 2nd quarter115.66.023.0 115.47.122.1
 3rd quarter112.1-3.012.4 110.8-4.011.6
 4th quarter116.94.310.6 115.64.310.0
         
20161st quarter127.69.217.0 124.67.815.7
 2nd quarter142.311.523.1 141.913.923.0
 3rd quarter146.12.730.3 143.51.129.5
 4th quarter147.40.926.1 144.40.624.9
         
20171st quarter167.313.531.1 160.311.028.7
 2nd quarter170.01.619.5 166.74.017.5
 3rd quarter180.26.023.3 174.24.521.4
 4th quarter188.34.527.7 181.64.225.8
         
20181st quarter2200.76.620.0 189.84.518.4
1 Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 1, 2018
2 Provisional
Open in Excel: Production in Building & Construction Index Quarter 1 2018 Table 1b (XLS 67KB)
upArrowHide Table
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 149.1 -3.0 148.5 -6.2
2009 128.0 -14.2 129.3 -12.9
2010 99.8 -22.0 99.7 -22.9
2011 75.2 -24.7 77.1 -22.7
2012 88.4 17.6 89.8 16.5
2013 93.1 5.4 94.0 4.7
2014 97.1 4.2 96.9 3.1
2015 93.7 -3.4 92.8 -4.2
2016 100.3 7.0 98.6 6.2
2017 106.4 6.1 102.9 4.3
         
20061st quarter136.65.236.2 151.23.029.9
 2nd quarter134.0-1.921.3 145.5-3.815.7
 3rd quarter138.53.46.1 149.22.50.1
 4th quarter151.99.716.9 160.07.29.0
         
20071st quarter154.31.613.0 161.30.86.7
 2nd quarter154.30.015.1 159.7-1.09.8
 3rd quarter152.1-1.49.8 155.1-2.94.0
 4th quarter154.01.21.4 156.91.2-1.9
         
20081st quarter152.5-1.0-1.2 153.1-2.4-5.1
 2nd quarter156.82.81.6 156.32.1-2.1
 3rd quarter149.6-4.6-1.6 148.1-5.2-4.5
 4th quarter137.3-8.2-10.8 136.4-7.9-13.1
         
20091st quarter136.1-0.9-10.8 137.00.4-10.5
 2nd quarter130.4-4.2-16.8 132.1-3.6-15.5
 3rd quarter129.1-1.0-13.7 130.6-1.1-11.8
 4th quarter116.2-10.0-15.4 117.6-10.0-13.8
         
20101st quarter112.9-2.8-17.0 113.7-3.3-17.0
 2nd quarter117.03.6-10.3 117.43.3-11.1
 3rd quarter84.6-27.7-34.5 83.7-28.7-35.9
 4th quarter84.5-0.1-27.3 84.00.4-28.6
         
20111st quarter75.3-10.9-33.3 76.5-8.9-32.7
 2nd quarter70.5-6.4-39.7 72.9-4.7-37.9
 3rd quarter73.64.4-13.0 75.63.7-9.7
 4th quarter81.210.3-3.9 83.210.1-1.0
         
20121st quarter87.67.916.3 89.57.617.0
 2nd quarter80.4-8.214.0 81.8-8.612.2
 3rd quarter79.9-0.68.6 81.1-0.97.3
 4th quarter105.532.029.9 106.731.628.2
         
20131st quarter91.8-13.04.8 92.9-12.93.8
 2nd quarter90.9-1.013.1 91.8-1.212.2
 3rd quarter95.65.219.6 96.65.219.1
 4th quarter94.2-1.5-10.7 94.5-2.2-11.4
         
20141st quarter92.1-2.20.3 92.6-2.0-0.3
 2nd quarter106.916.117.6 107.015.616.6
 3rd quarter96.7-9.51.2 96.3-10.0-0.3
 4th quarter92.5-4.3-1.8 91.7-4.8-3.0
         
20151st quarter93.20.81.2 92.61.00.0
 2nd quarter92.5-0.8-13.5 91.7-1.0-14.3
 3rd quarter91.6-1.0-5.3 90.6-1.2-5.9
 4th quarter97.66.65.5 96.46.45.1
         
20161st quarter96.7-0.93.8 95.1-1.32.7
 2nd quarter104.68.213.1 103.58.812.9
 3rd quarter101.1-3.310.4 99.2-4.29.5
 4th quarter98.8-2.31.2 96.5-2.70.1
         
20171st quarter102.33.55.8 99.12.74.2
 2nd quarter101.7-0.6-2.8 99.20.1-4.2
 3rd quarter109.27.48.0 105.26.06.0
 4th quarter112.42.913.8 107.92.611.8
         
20181st quarter2114.01.411.4 109.11.110.1
1Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 1, 2018
2Provisional
Open in Excel: Production in Building & Construction Index Quarter 1 2018 Table 1c (XLS 103KB)
upArrowHide Table
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 159.4 -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 63.1 -11.7 64.2 -12.3
2013 70.3 11.5 70.9 10.6
2014 83.2 18.3 83.1 17.1
2015 108.4 30.3 107.5 29.5
2016 147.5 36.1 145.2 35.0
2017 190.0 28.8 183.8 26.6
         
20061st quarter820.59.914.2 891.85.59.5
 2nd quarter791.8-3.50.8 858.3-3.8-3.7
 3rd quarter784.4-0.91.0 861.40.4-5.0
 4th quarter860.09.615.2 897.24.26.1
         
20071st quarter718.1-16.5-12.5 748.8-16.5-16.0
 2nd quarter733.02.1-7.4 758.11.2-11.7
 3rd quarter639.7-12.7-18.4 659.6-13.0-23.4
 4th quarter599.9-6.2-30.2 604.9-8.3-32.6
         
20081st quarter493.2-17.8-31.3 497.3-17.8-33.6
 2nd quarter426.0-13.6-41.9 424.8-14.6-44.0
 3rd quarter356.2-16.4-44.3 352.5-17.0-46.6
 4th quarter263.0-26.2-56.2 260.8-26.0-56.9
         
20091st quarter211.2-19.7-57.2 213.7-18.1-57.0
 2nd quarter168.1-20.4-60.5 170.7-20.1-59.8
 3rd quarter138.8-17.4-61.0 140.1-17.9-60.3
 4th quarter119.4-14.0-54.6 120.3-14.1-53.9
         
20101st quarter105.3-11.8-50.1 106.7-11.3-50.1
 2nd quarter102.7-2.5-38.9 103.6-2.9-39.3
 3rd quarter101.5-1.2-26.9 100.6-2.9-28.2
 4th quarter91.3-10.0-23.5 90.3-10.2-24.9
         
20111st quarter78.8-13.7-25.2 80.1-11.3-24.9
 2nd quarter68.7-12.8-33.1 71.7-10.5-30.8
 3rd quarter66.7-2.9-34.3 68.8-4.0-31.6
 4th quarter71.36.9-21.9 71.94.5-20.4
         
20121st quarter66.7-6.5-15.4 68.0-5.4-15.1
 2nd quarter61.4-7.9-10.6 63.4-6.8-11.6
 3rd quarter63.12.8-5.4 64.21.3-6.7
 4th quarter61.0-3.3-14.4 61.0-5.0-15.2
         
20131st quarter72.318.58.4 73.019.77.4
 2nd quarter68.8-4.812.1 70.3-3.710.9
 3rd quarter68.5-0.48.6 69.4-1.38.1
 4th quarter71.64.517.4 71.02.316.4
         
20141st quarter68.8-3.9-4.8 69.9-1.5-4.2
 2nd quarter76.010.510.5 75.98.68.0
 3rd quarter87.014.527.0 87.114.825.5
 4th quarter100.815.940.8 99.314.039.9
         
20151st quarter95.7-5.139.1 96.4-2.937.9
 2nd quarter113.518.649.3 111.215.446.5
 3rd quarter112.1-1.228.9 111.30.127.8
 4th quarter112.20.111.3 111.2-0.112.0
         
20161st quarter134.119.540.1 132.819.437.8
 2nd quarter152.313.634.2 148.812.033.8
 3rd quarter146.6-3.730.8 144.6-2.829.9
 4th quarter156.87.039.8 154.66.939.0
         
20171st quarter170.88.927.4 164.26.223.6
 2nd quarter178.34.417.1 173.65.716.7
 3rd quarter202.913.838.4 195.312.535.1
 4th quarter207.92.532.6 202.13.530.7
         
20181st quarter2226.38.932.5 213.55.630.0
1Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 1, 2018
2Provisional
Open in Excel: Production in Building & Construction Index Quarter 1 2018 Table 2a (XLS 89KB)
upArrowHide Table
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 6.0 185.5 1.0
2008 181.5 0.8 180.9 -2.5
2009 140.5 -22.6 142.0 -21.5
2010 99.6 -29.1 99.7 -29.8
2011 95.7 -3.9 98.1 -1.6
2012 86.6 -9.6 88.0 -10.3
2013 102.2 18.1 103.2 17.2
2014 111.8 9.3 111.7 8.3
2015 117.5 5.2 116.5 4.3
2016 135.0 14.8 132.7 14.0
2017 164.7 22.0 159.4 20.1
         
20061st quarter173.74.427.0 191.61.921.6
 2nd quarter168.6-2.914.0 183.7-4.18.1
 3rd quarter165.3-2.06.2 178.0-3.10.1
 4th quarter171.94.03.3 181.52.0-3.5
         
20071st quarter179.44.43.3 187.33.2-2.2
 2nd quarter181.91.47.9 188.10.42.4
 3rd quarter184.01.211.3 187.7-0.25.4
 4th quarter174.9-4.91.7 179.0-4.6-1.4
         
20081st quarter186.46.63.9 186.54.2-0.4
 2nd quarter188.81.33.8 187.60.6-0.3
 3rd quarter177.5-6.0-3.5 176.2-6.1-6.1
 4th quarter173.3-2.4-0.9 173.1-1.8-3.3
         
20091st quarter161.8-6.6-13.2 162.6-6.1-12.8
 2nd quarter150.2-7.2-20.4 151.5-6.8-19.2
 3rd quarter134.8-10.3-24.1 137.0-9.6-22.2
 4th quarter115.0-14.7-33.6 116.8-14.7-32.5
         
20101st quarter103.2-10.3-36.2 103.8-11.1-36.2
 2nd quarter96.1-6.9-36.0 95.9-7.6-36.7
 3rd quarter100.34.4-25.6 100.14.4-26.9
 4th quarter98.9-1.4-14.0 98.8-1.3-15.4
         
20111st quarter95.7-3.2-7.3 97.1-1.7-6.5
 2nd quarter96.81.10.7 99.52.53.8
 3rd quarter96.1-0.7-4.2 99.1-0.4-1.0
 4th quarter94.2-2.0-4.8 96.6-2.5-2.2
         
20121st quarter90.8-3.6-5.1 92.6-4.1-4.6
 2nd quarter85.6-5.7-11.6 86.9-6.2-12.7
 3rd quarter83.3-2.7-13.3 84.7-2.5-14.5
 4th quarter86.53.8-8.2 87.83.7-9.1
         
20131st quarter85.9-0.7-5.4 86.7-1.3-6.4
 2nd quarter97.813.914.3 98.914.113.8
 3rd quarter109.111.631.0 110.211.430.1
 4th quarter116.16.434.2 116.96.133.1
         
20141st quarter114.6-1.333.4 115.1-1.532.8
 2nd quarter110.4-3.712.9 110.6-3.911.8
 3rd quarter111.10.61.8 110.90.30.6
 4th quarter110.9-0.2-4.5 110.2-0.6-5.7
         
20151st quarter118.26.63.1 117.36.41.9
 2nd quarter118.30.17.2 117.30.06.1
 3rd quarter113.3-4.22.0 112.2-4.31.2
 4th quarter120.36.28.5 119.06.18.0
         
20161st quarter119.5-0.71.1 117.9-0.90.5
 2nd quarter134.912.914.0 133.012.813.4
 3rd quarter147.99.630.5 145.59.429.7
 4th quarter137.5-7.014.3 134.5-7.613.0
         
20171st quarter162.818.436.2 158.317.734.3
 2nd quarter163.70.621.3 158.70.319.3
 3rd quarter163.80.110.8 158.3-0.38.8
 4th quarter168.42.822.5 162.22.520.6
         
20181st quarter2178.15.89.4 171.25.58.1
1 Based on Seasonal Patterns up to Quarter 1, 2018
2 Provisional
Open in Excel: Production in building & Construction Index Quarter 1 2018 Table 2b (XLS 53KB)
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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 2017, 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: 

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 17.7% in the annual volume of production in building and construction, between 2016 and 2017. In the same period, employment in the sector, as measured by the QNHS, rose by 7.7%. 

For residential buildings, the QSC shows an increase of 26.6% in the annual volume of production between 2016 and 2017. The house completions series shows an increase of 29.1% 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 32.8% in residential building in 2017 when compared with 2016.

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 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 366.4 151.5 877.2   251,700 88,187 75,602
2007 316.3 158.3 692.9   273,900 78,027 48,876
2008 225.2 148.5 383.9   246,100 51,724 22,852
2009 143.8 129.3 161.2   158,200 26,420 8,599
2010 100.2 99.7 100.3   126,500 14,602 6,391
2011 83.7 77.1 73.1   106,400 10,480 4,365
2012 80.2 89.8 64.2   99,600 8,488 4,042
2013 89.5 94.0 70.9   102,700 8,301 4,708
20144 98.3 96.9 83.1   106,300 11,016 7,717
2015 106.4 92.8 107.5   125,900 12,666 8,747
2016 125.1 98.6 145.2   136,900 14,932 13,234
2017 147.2
 102.9 183.8   147,400 19,271 17,572
1 Quarterly National Household Survey, April - June quarter, NACE Rev. 2.
2 Source: Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government.
3 Seasonally Adjusted series introduced in Q1 2010.
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.
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