The Statistical Service announces that it has published
the annual report “Construction and Housing Statistics, 2012”. The report
contains detailed data on the construction sector, pertaining, inter alia, to
output, capital formation, inputs, new dwellings completed, building permits
authorized, labour cost index and price indices of construction materials.
The main developments in 2012 were:
(a)
The construction sector continued for the fourth consecutive year
to be in recession. The rate of growth of the sector in 2012 (in terms of value
added at constant prices) is provisionally
estimated to have recorded a decrease of 19,5% compared to a decline of 9,8% in
2011.
(b)
The gross
output of the sector at current market prices was reduced in 2012 by 20,7% to €2.250,8
million compared to €2.836,7 million in 2011. The subsector of buildings construction and civil engineering recorded a
decrease of 20,9%, while the subsector of land and buildings development
registered a decline of 19,3%.
(c)
New
residential buildings accounted for 31,4% of the total gross output of the
subsector of buildings construction and civil engineering, new non-residential
buildings (offices, shops, hotels, factories, etc.) for 21,6% and new civil
engineering projects (roads and bridges, water supply and sewerage networks,
telecommunications and electricity lines etc.) for 26,4%, while repairs,
maintenance and others accounted for the remaining 20,6%.
(d)
Employment
in the sector was reduced from 33.039 persons in 2011 to 28.562 persons in 2012
and accounted for 7,8% of the gainfully employed population.
(e)
The number of persons registered as unemployed increased from
4.424 persons in 2011 to 6.177 persons in 2012.
(f)
Labour
cost in construction increased by 1,2% compared to an increase of 2,5% in 2011.
The price index of construction materials recorded a rise of 0,2% compared to 4,1%
in 2011.
(g)
The number
of new dwellings completed decreased by 27,8% to 6.565 dwelling units compared
to 9.091 in the previous year. By administrative
district, the number of new dwellings is distributed as follows: Lefkosia (Nicosia)
2.534, Ammochostos (Famagusta) 325, Larnaka 1.273, Lemesos (Limassol) 1.548 and
Pafos 885.
(h)
The
average area per dwelling completed in 2012 was 234 square metres for houses
and 128 square metres for apartments, compared to 239 and 131 respectively in 2011.
(i)
The cost
of construction per square metre (excluding the value of land) rose from €943,1
in 2011 to €988,1 in 2012 for houses and from €830,0 to €831,9 for apartments.
(j)
The
dwelling stock at the end of the year amounted to 430 thousand dwelling units,
of which 62,5% were in the urban areas.
An electronic version of the report can be downloaded
free of charge from the web site of the Statistical Service at the address
www.cystat.gov.cy, under the section Publications. Within the coming days, the
paper publication will also be made available for sale from the Government
Printing Office in Nicosia at the price of €10,00 per copy.
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27/5/2014
