Construction output volumes fell 2.4 per cent on a seasonally-adjusted basis in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, but were up 23 per cent year-on-year, according to data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Residential building activity climbed 2.8 per cent in the quarter compared to the final three months of 2021, while the civil engineering sector fell 11.8 per cent and the non-residential construction sector decreased 1.7 per cent.
The seasonally-adjusted value of all building and construction dropped 2.2 per cent on a quarterly basis and increased 36.5 per cent on an annual basis, the CSO said.
The year-on-year gains are unsurprising given non-essential construction sites were closed during the first quarter in 2021 as a result of Covid restrictions and only reopened in a phased manner in the second quarter of last year.
“Activity in the construction sector remains lower than pre-pandemic levels with production volume in quarter one 2022 down 14.6 per cent compared to quarter one 2020,” said Sorcha O’Callaghan, statistician in the CSO’s business statistics division. “This is also the case in the residential, non-residential, and civil categories where activity levels remain lower than in Q1 2020.”
