Construction output in the Czech Republic fell by 4.3 percent year-on-year in February. The Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ) announced today that unfavourable weather and a high comparison base contributed to the decline. The number of flats that builders started to construct fell by almost five percent compared to February last year. In contrast, the number of completed flats rose by more than 17 per cent.
Czech construction output in February hit the high bases of the previous month and last February. Worse weather also contributed to the decline. “The fall in production was dampened by civil engineering, which fell by 1.5 percent year-on-year, while civil engineering fell by 14.4 percent,” said Radek Matějka, director of the ČSÚ’s Department of Statistics on Agriculture and Forestry, Industry, Construction and Energy. The category of civil engineering construction includes the construction of apartments, offices or warehouses, while the output of civil engineering construction includes, for example, the construction of roads and railways.
In February, construction of 3,511 flats started, down 4.9 percent year-on-year. “The decline was driven by the single-family home category, where numbers have been falling since the middle of last year. On the other hand, more apartment buildings were started, especially in Prague,” said Petra Cuřínová, head of the ČSÚ’s Construction and Housing Statistics Department. The number of completed flats increased by 17.2 percent year-on-year to 2,678.
Building authorities issued 6,006 building permits in February, down 13 percent year-on-year. Nevertheless, the indicative value of permitted constructions rose by 5.3 percent to CZK 41.9 billion.
The average number of employees in the construction sector fell by 1.7 percent year-on-year. The average gross monthly wage of these employees rose by more than 14 per cent compared to February last year.
Source: ČSÚ and CTK
