Private construction sector shows output increases

Despite growing business in the private commercial, industrial and housing sectors, the total volume of construction output in 2005 fell by 1% compared to the previous year. Total output in the fourth quarter of 2005 was unchanged compared with the third quarter, both in volume terms and in current prices, according to figures from the National Statistics Office. The biggest increases in output were in the private industrial sector. New construction work was 6% higher than the previous year, and the fourth quarter was 8% higher than the third quarter. New private commercial output was 1% higher than the previous year, and the fourth quarter was 4% higher than the third. Although the final quarter of 2005 showed a 1% fall in private housing work compared with the previous quarter, there was a 4% year-on-year increase. There was a significant fall in the public non-housing sector, excluding infrastructure. Year-on-year output fell by 9%, but there was a 1% increase from the third quarter to the fourth.