The Production in Building and Construction Index (PBCI) is a volume index based on the value of ‘work done’ in the Residential, Non-Residential and Civil Engineering sectors. Provisional PBCI data for Q1 2020 are based on work done in January, February and March 2020. Due to restrictions imposed by the Government relating to COVID-19, the construction industry shut down on March 28th resulting in two lost working days for quarter 1.
Data for this release were collected during the months April, May and June 2020. Due to the shutdown in the industry, many firms were not in a position to receive and return their survey forms and hence the response rate fell below what would normally be expected. As per previous releases, the data for Q1 2020 are provisional for this release and final revised data will be published for Q1 2020 in September (along with provisional data for Q2 2020). The construction sector began resuming activity on May 18th and it is possible that some companies will be in a position to respond to the CSO between now and the next publication of results in September. Further information will be provided along with the Q1 2020 final results in September regarding the response rate at that point in time.
Weights
The PBCI index weights are based on 2015 data (base year = 2015) and may not reflect the current distribution of economic activity in the sector due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Quarter 2 2020
The CSO wishes to thank all those enterprises who supplied their Building and Construction data for quarter 1 and urge them to continue to do so for quarter 2, even where work done may be reduced or nil, or if an enterprise has temporarily stopped operation. Such information is still needed to measure the precise impact of the crisis on the construction sector. The quarter 2 PBCI is planned for publication on 4th September.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.