Construction production in the Czech Republic is still failing to start growth. In April, it fell by 3.9 percent year on year, while in March, the decline was 3.3 percent, according to revised data. Construction output also fell month-on-month, by 1.3 percent. As in previous months, the reduction in April was due to building construction, which includes the construction of flats, offices or warehouses. Civil engineering, especially transport construction, stagnated compared to last April. This follows from data published today by the Czech Statistical Office (CSO).
“Construction output fell by 3.9 percent year on year in April due to developments in building construction. Civil engineering was at a high level last April,” said Radek Matějka, director of the Department of Statistics on Agriculture and Forestry, Industry, Construction and Energy of the CZSO.
Construction production may have been partly affected by adverse weather conditions. “April was strongly below normal and during cold days precipitation also fell in the form of snow,” said Petra Cuřínová, head of the CZSO construction and housing construction statistics department.
Statistics fell in all four months of this year – most in February, when the decline was almost 11 percent, the most significant year-on-year decline since July 2016. Production in construction fell for most of last year, growing only in January to March. Just last March, an epidemic of covid-19 broke out in the Czech Republic, which has significantly reduced the movement of people, trade or services since then.
Compared to the same month last year, production in building construction decreased by 5.4 percent in April this year, after adjusting for working days, while civil engineering decreased by 0.3 percent year-on-year.
According to statisticians, the area of building permits and housing construction was partly affected by the low base from April 2020, when, due to the epidemic, it struggled with limited activities of some building authorities and reduced interest from builders. In April this year, building authorities issued 13.5 percent more building permits year-on-year, their indicative value increased by 8.8 percent and reached CZK 37.6 billion.
Year-on-year, 6.6 percent more dwellings were started and 57.4 percent more dwellings were completed. The construction of 3589 flats started, the flats were completed in April 2889.
The average registered number of employees in construction decreased by 1.4 percent year-on-year in April this year, their average gross monthly wage increased by 9.8 percent compared to April last year. The growth of the average wage was influenced not only by the payment of annual bonuses, but also by the low base from last April. At that time, some medium-sized and smaller companies worked in a limited regime and their employees took sick, nursing or unpaid leave, the CZSO added.
Source: CZSO and CTK
