Construction output in the Czech Republic fell by 0.8 percent year-on-year in November after rising by 1 percent in October. Both segments, civil and civil engineering construction, showed almost the same development.
Ground construction, which is the construction of residential and non-residential buildings, was down 0.8 percent from November 2021, and the output of civil engineering, which is the construction of roads, telecommunications, and energy networks, was down 0.9 percent. On a month-over-month basis, construction output declined by 0.3 percent. The Czech Statistical Office (CSO) reported this on Friday.
Production in the construction sector had been growing for 14 months until last July, but since March, production has gradually slowed down. In February, annual growth was still almost 17 percent; in March, it was less than nine percent; and in June, it was 1.5 percent.
In July, production fell year-on-year, rose slightly in August, returned to decline in September, and was one percent higher in October.
Building authorities issued 6,975 building permits in November, down 6.2 percent year-on-year. “The indicative value of permitted constructions reached CZK 40.5 billion and fell by more than a fifth year-on-year, which was partly influenced by the permitting of a higher number of large constructions in November 2021,” said Radek Matějka, director of the CSO’s Department of Statistics for Agriculture and Forestry, Industry, Construction, and Energy.
The number of dwellings started in November rose by 3.9 percent year-on-year to 3,377, while the number of completed dwellings was 4,423, up 33.4 percent year-on-year.
The average number of registered employees in the construction industry increased by 0.3 percent year-on-year, and their average gross monthly wages rose by 10.7 percent year-on-year.
The number of new constructions will decrease
BHS chief economist Štěpán Křeček expects the number of new housing starts in the construction sector to decline this year and some projects to be postponed due to the weak economic situation
“The construction industry is one cyclical sector that suffers significantly when a recession hits the economy. Therefore, it can be expected that this year will see the completion of projects already started but a significant reduction in the number of new starts,” Křeček said.