Press Release 30/04/2024
CONSTRUCTION SURVEY. 2022
The turnover figure for construction grew by 13.3% in the Basque Country in 2022
27.4% of turnover was generated by the construction of new residential buildings
In 2022, the Construction sector saw turnover increase by 13.3% compared to 2021, reaching 9,332 million euros in the Basque Country as a whole, according to Eustat data.
This figure is now very close to the 9,656 million euros obtained in 2019. In addition, other important indicators of construction activity, such as employment, which grew by 4.8%, the number of hours worked, which increased by 4.5%, and gross value added, which was up 9.8%, registered values nearly equivalent to those of 2019, which indicates that the Construction sector has returned to pre-pandemic levels of dynamism.
It is also noteworthy that all three provinces followed this upward trajectory, albeit to varying degrees. Bizkaia, with turnover of 4,774 million euros (51.2% of the total for the Basque Country) registered the greatest increase of the three provinces, with 15.9%. It was followed by Gipuzkoa, which had a turnover of 3,289 million euros and absorbed 35.2% of the Basque Country total, exceeding the income obtained in 2021 by 11.7%. Álava saw a more moderate rise of 8.3%, with turnover of 1,268 million euros. This province accounted for 13.6% of the total for the Basque Country.
Main Construction Variables. Basque Country. Current prices (thousands euros). 2021-2022
| | 2022 | 2021 | Increase (%) |
| Personnel employed NU | 63.003 | 60.115 | 4,8 |
| Net amount of the turnover | 9.332.356 | 8.235.401 | 13,3 |
| Supplies | 5.099.200 | 4.433.078 | 15,0 |
| Exterior services | 1.119.394 | 957.662 | 16,9 |
| Expenditures on personnel | 2.156.161 | 1.986.984 | 8,5 |
| Funds for depreciation | 145.683 | 141.923 | 2,6 |
| Result before tax | 874.665 | 754.819 | 15,9 |
| Profit or loss for the financial year from continuous operations | 802.585 | 686.321 | 16,9 |
| Investment made | 193.575 | 214.920 | -9,9 |
Date April 30, 2024
Source: Eustat. Construction Survey
This 13.3% increase in sales, although positive in all the different establishment sizes in terms of employment, was reflected differently in each of them. The highest stratum, that of 20 or more employees, was the strongest performer by far, with a 20.6% increase in sales. Following behind was the stratum without salaried workers, which saw turnover rise by 10.8%. Lastly, there was the stratum of 1 to 19 employees, where turnover grew by 8.7%. After these increases, the stratum of 1 to 19 employees accounted for more than half of total turnover in the Construction sector (53.2%), the stratum of 20 employees or more represented 39.8%, and establishments without salaried workers took up the remaining 7.1%.
Employment figures (63,000 people) returned to 2019 levels
In 2022, employment in the Construction sector in the Basque Country grew by 4.8% compared to 2021. In absolute figures, this is an increase of 2,888 net jobs compared to the previous year, bringing the total to 63,003 jobs.
After the sharp drop in employment in 2020 (-5.1%), which placed the number of jobs below 60,000 (59,963) for the first time since 2000, and the weak recovery seen in 2021 (60,115), the 63,000 people employed in 2022 returned the figures for this economic sector to those typical of the last decade.
At the provincial level, employment in the Construction sector in Bizkaia, which was up 5.1%, and particularly in Álava, where it rose by 6.1%, was more dynamic than in Gipuzkoa, which contributed to this rise in employment with an increase of 3.8%. As a result, in 2022, Bizkaia accounted for 53.2% of employment in the sector, Gipuzkoa 32.8% and Álava 14.0%.
In 2022, the evolution by province for the indicator of number of hours worked ran parallel to that described for employment: with an upturn of 4.5% in the Autonomous Region as a whole, Álava stood out with an increase of 6.4% and there was a more moderate rise in Bizkaia of 4.6%, while Gipuzkoa saw the lowest increase of 3.5%, as was the case with employment.
Source: Eustat. Construction survey
Period availables
More than half of employment (57%) was concentrated in Finishing Works and Installations in Construction Work
In terms of size, the three main Construction subsectors were: Electrical Installations, Plumbing and Other Installations, with 19,186 jobs; Finishing Works, with 16,665 jobs; and Building Construction, with 11,551 people in work. Between them, they accounted for just over 75% of the total number of people employed in construction. In 2022, all three subsectors posted a positive trend: employment was up 6.2% in the Finishing Works subsector, rose by 3.4% in Installations and there was an increase of 2.7% in Building Construction.
It is worth noting that, in 2022, 11.9% of people employed in the Construction sector were women. This proportion is higher than that observed in 2021 (11.1%) and the highest since 2011.
27.4% of turnover was generated by the construction of new residential buildings
As regards the distribution of turnover for construction companies, it should be noted that the greatest contribution to turnover came from Construction of New Residential Buildings, with 27.4% of total turnover, followed by Renovation of Residential Buildings, which represented just over a fifth of turnover (24.6%). If we add Construction of New Non-residential Buildings (8.8%) and Renovation of Non-residential Buildings (8.6%), Construction as a whole accounted for nearly seven out of every ten euros in turnover (69.4%).
Property Development (14.8%), Civil Works (11.8%) and Other Activities Not Related to Construction (4%) completed the economic distribution of the business of construction companies.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel.: 945 01 75 62