Northern Ireland Construction Bulletin

Northern Ireland Construction Bulletin - Q3 2011

Wednesday, 18 January 2012 11:26

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) today published the latest edition of the Northern Ireland Construction Bulletin.

The Construction Output Statistics published in the Northern Ireland Construction Bulletin provide a general measure of change in real terms in the output of the Construction Industry in Northern Ireland. The Construction bulletin can be accessed via the DFP website

The results are primarily used by National Accounts in the calculation of the output measure of UK Gross Domestic Product. The results are also used by Northern Ireland Government Departments, Economists, Construction Industry Analysts and Academics to understand the state of the construction sector in Northern Ireland and the wider Northern Ireland economy.

Key findings:

The total volume of construction output in Northern Ireland in Q3 2011 increased by 0.8% compared to Q2 2011 but was 12.5% lower compared to Q3 2010. This was the first quarterly increase in the total volume of construction output since Q2 2008.

The total volume of New Work in Q3 2011 decreased by 1.8% compared to Q2 2011 and was 19.3% lower compared to Q3 2010.

The total volume of construction output classified as Repair and Maintenance in Q3 2011 increased by 3.6% compared to the previous quarter and was 10.4% higher than Q3 2010.

A 3.5% quarter on quarter volume reduction was experienced in Housing Output between Q2 and Q3 2011 but quarter on quarter volume growths were reported for Infrastructure and Industrial & Commercial outputs. (19.5% and 1.5% respectively)

Readers are advised:

Results, particularly those for the most recent quarters, are provisional and subject to revision, as later information becomes available;

The figures reported above are based on returns from construction firms and public sector bodies carrying out their own construction activity for the period 1st July to 30th September 2011;

Results are published in constant 2005 prices, seasonally adjusted, where appropriate.

Deflators adjust the value series to take out the effect of price changes to give the volume series. Deflation of construction output is carried out sectorally (i.e. New Housing, New Infrastructure etc) using a range of relevant tender price and output price indices supplied by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Users are advised that these deflators are UK deflators and are not regional NI deflators;

Seasonal adjustment aids interpretation by removing seasonal variation due to climate, hours of daylight, holidays or other regular seasonal patterns.

The planned publication dates of the next four quarterly Bulletins are as follows:

Construction Bulletin Date of release
2011 – Quarter 4 18 April 2012
2012 – Quarter 1 18 July 2012
2012 – Quarter 2 17 October 2012
2012 – Quarter 3 16 January 2012