Construction sector decline continues

Building and construction activity fell by 11.4 per cent in the first three months of the year, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office.

The biggest decline was in the civil engineering sector where activity was down 31.5 per cent. Residential building volumes declined 7.4 per cent during the quarter, while non-residential building activity was down 7.2 per cent.

The value of production for building and construction fell by 13.9 per cent in the quarter, the figures show.

Building and construction activity declined by 23 per cent when compared with the same quarter a year earlier with the value of production falling by 23.9 per cent.

On an annual basis there was a 41.1 per cent fall in activity in the civil engineering sector while residenial building output was down 20.7 per cent.