Figures released by the latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) report indicate that Ireland’s construction output increased by a quarterly 6.2% in the final three months of 2021, but that activity still remains below pre-pandemic levels.
The production in building and construction index highlights that activity in the final quarter of 2021 was 6.3% lower than the same quarter in 2019.
Analysis reveals that this was also the case in the residential and non-residential categories, with activity levels remaining lower than the final quarter of 2019, but activity levels in civil engineering increased by 11.6%.
The civil engineering sector marked the largest quarterly increase, with a rise of 6.2% in the seasonally adjusted volume index, while the residential sector increased by 4.4%, and the non-residential sector increased by 4.3%.
A forecast by the Central Bank estimates that about 25,000 new housing units will be built in 2022, followed by 30,000 and 35,000 units in 2023 and 2024 respectively. The 35,000 figure is a rough estimate of levels of demand in the market.
LSL News.