Construction output slumps 42.5% in second quarter – CSO
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that construction production slumped by 42.5% in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the previous three month period as Covid-19 restrictions closed down most buildings sites for some months.
The CSO said this marked the largest quarterly decrease since the index began.
The biggest quarterly decline before this was a decrease of 13.9% in the fourth quarter of 2008 when the building industry collapsed due to the financial crisis.
On an annual basis, the CSO said that production volumes decreased by 35.7% from the second quarter of 2019.
Construction sites closed in March under government orders and re-opened on May 18 but with social distancing restrictions and extra cleaning measures in place, which slowed the pace of work.
Today’s figures show that the Residential sector showed the largest quarterly decrease with a fall of 50.9%.
The Non-Residential and Civil Engineering sectors both decreased by 43.7% and 42.5% respectively, the CSO said.
On an annual basis, the Residential sector experienced a volume decrease of 47%, while the Civil Engineering and Non-Residential sectors decreased annually by 36.8% and 33.3% respectively.
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