Following a long period of growth, the construction sector entered in 2009 into a phase of recession, according to the annual report of the Statistical Service titled ''Construction and Housing Statistics, 2009''.
The report notes that the rate of growth of the sector in 2009, in terms of value added at constant prices, is provisionally estimated to have recorded a decrease of 9.5% compared to an increase of 2.1% in 2008.
The gross output of the sector at current market prices was reduced in 2009 by 10.7% to 3,841.8 million EUR compared to 4,304.0 million EUR in 2008.
The subsector of buildings construction and civil engineering recorded a decrease of 9.6%, while the subsector of land and buildings development registered a decline of 13.6%.
New residential buildings accounted for 46.5% of the total gross output of the subsector of buildings construction and civil engineering, new non-residential buildings such as offices, shops, hotels, factories and airport buildings for 24.1%, new civil engineering projects such as roads and bridges, water supply and sewerage networks, and telecommunications and electricity lines for 20.7%, and repairs and maintenance for the remaining 8.7%.
Employment in the sector was reduced from 39,918 persons in 2008 to 37,891 persons in 2009 and accounted for 10.1% of the gainfully employed population.
The number of persons registered as unemployed increased from 902 persons in 2008 to 2,598 persons in 2009.
Labour cost in construction increased by 4.8% compared to 6.0% in 2008. The price index of construction materials recorded a decline of 3.5% compared to an increase of 9.8% in 2008.
The number of new dwellings completed decreased by 8.5% to 16,644 dwelling units compared to 18,195 in the previous year. By district, the number of new dwellings was in Nicosia 4,484, Famagusta 1,870, Larnaca 3,056, Limassol 3,751 and Paphos 3,483.
The average area per dwelling completed in 2009 was 203 square metres for houses and 122 square metres for apartments, compared to 199 and 118 respectively in 2008.
The cost of construction per square metre, excluding the value of land, rose from 844 EUR in 2008 to 896 EUR in 2009 for houses and from 767 EUR to 783 EUR for apartments.
The dwelling stock at the end of the year amounted to 392,000 dwelling units, of which 62.9% were in the urban areas.
