Production in the construction sector

In April 2020, estimates for construction output dropped by 51.5% in the month on month series, following the strong monthly fall of 36.4% reported in March 2020.

In the three months to April 2020, the seasonally adjusted index of production in construction decreased by 33.2% compared with the previous three months.

Year on year, the unadjusted index for construction output plummeted by 66.7%, while the calendar adjusted index sharply fell by 67.8% (21 calendar working days versus 20 days in April 2019).

In the first four months of 2020, construction output decreased by 25.2% in the calendar adjusted series and contracted by 24.4% in the unadjusted series.

Both year on year and month on month growth rate of construction output in April 2020 show the largest falls on record since the series began in 1995.

During the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, the survey on Building Workers Welfare Funds was largely unaffected, gaining the usual response rate. Notwithstanding, a minor issue may concern the quality of the information gathered. With regard to the industrial turnover survey, a moderate fall in the response rate occured. New strategies were implemented to deal with the missing responses in order to calculate and release accurate indices for April 2020.