The Cyprus Statistical Service Cystat has published the annual report “Construction and Housing Statistics, 2006€.
The report contains detailed data on the construction sector, pertaining, inter alia, to output, capital formation, inputs, new dwellings completed, building permits authorised, labour cost index and price indices of construction materials.
The main developments in the construction sector in 2006 were as follows.
The sector continued to record a positive rate of growth, registering an upwards trend in its value added in real terms of 5.4% compared to 7.0% in 2005 and 6.4% in 2004. This is attributed mainly to the significant increase in the construction of residential buildings.
Gross output at current market prices rose by 11.9% and reached CYP 1,374 mln compared to CYP 1,228 mln in 2005.
New residential buildings accounted for 53.1% of the gross output, new non-residential buildings (shops, offices, factories, hotels, etc.) for 18.7%, civil engineering projects (roads, water supply and sewerage networks, telecommunications and electricity lines etc.) for 18.4% and repairs and maintenance for the remaining 9.8%.
Employment in the sector increased from 33,609 persons in 2005 to 33,874 persons in 2006 and accounted for 9.5% of the gainfully employed population.
Labour costs in construction increased by 5.3% compared to 5.2% in 2005. The price index of construction materials recorded a rise of 4.9% compared to an increase of 5.5% in 2005.
The number of new dwellings completed rose by 1.4% to 16,647 dwelling units compared to 16,416 in the previous year.
By district, the number of new dwellings is distributed as follows: Lefkosia (
The average area per dwelling completed in 2006 was 193 square metres for houses and 111 square metres for apartments, compared to 186 and 114 respectively in 2005.
The cost of construction per square metre (excluding the value of land) rose from CYP 416 in 2005 to CYP 447 in 2006 for houses and from CYP 384 to CYP 406 for apartments.
An electronic version of the report can be downloaded free of charge from the web site of the Statistical Service at the address www.mof.gov.cy/cystat, the section Publications (Category: Annual Publications, Theme: Industry,Construction, Subtheme: Construction). 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 (CYP 5.85) per copy.
