Press Release 09/12/2020

CONSTRUCTION INDEX III/2020

Activity in the Construction sector in the Basque Country rose by 13.2% in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the previous quarter

In the balance of the first three quarters of 2020 construction shrank by 9.3%

Construction activity in the Basque Country registered an increase of 13.2% in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the second quarter, according to EUSTAT data. However, when compared to the same quarter of the previous year it registered a year-on-year nominal downturn of 11.0%, in homogeneous terms of the working calendar

The drop in the Construction sector in this quarter in the year-on-year comparison was due to the negative performance of the Building subsector, which registered a year-on-year downturn of 13.4%, given that the Civil Works subsector was up 5.8%.

If we compare the activity of the sector observed in the third quarter of 2020 with that of the previous quarter, and once seasonal effects have been corrected, the Construction sector grew by 13.2%. In quarter-on-quarter terms, both the Building and Civil Works subsectors performed positively, with a rise of 11.2% in the former and of 16.4% in the latter.

Continuing with the quarter-on-quarter comparison, the number of people employed in the construction sector in the third quarter of 2020 was down 0.3%, in respect of the second quarter of 2020.

In the balance of the first three quarters of 2020, construction was down 9.3%, with Building (-9.9%) falling more than Civil Works (-5.2%).

NOTE

Included as persons employed considered in this and other short-term indices, are those covered by an ERTE (Temporary Labour Force Adjustment Plan), following the definition of persons employed indicated by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) in its manual Methodology of Short Term Business Statistics.

The models used in the correction of calendar effects and deseasonalisation of the series include the effect of COVID-19 on the variables studied, following the recommendations of the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) (Eurostat) in its methodological note Guidance on Time Series Treatment in the context of the COVID-19 crisis..

Eustat would like to thank all the companies that have collaborated in making this effort despite the extraordinary circumstances. As a result, the index for the third quarter of 2020 was calculated with 93.63% coverage of the sample.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62