Romania’s construction works index soared by 33.4% year-on-year in April, nearly three times faster compared to the still impressive 11.7% advance posted in the first quarter of the year.

Although the figure slightly overstates the sector’s performance, constructions contributed 0.2 percentage points to the 5.0% annual GDP increase in Q1 thanks to a 6.5% annual increase in the value added generated in the quarter.

The annual growth of the construction volume index in April (33.4%) was the second highest in the post-recession period (since 2008), and the volume of works neared the post-crisis peak level: the seasonally-adjusted index was 1.5% below the record volume posted in December 2015. Compared to the past five year’s average, the seasonally-adjusted index was 19.1% above -- meaning significantly robust, although maybe not as impressive as the 33.4% annual growth would imply.

Speaking of the drivers of the growth in April, the volume of civil engineering works increased by 36.6% year-on-year, while the other market segments advanced at slightly slower paces (27% for the residential buildings and 33% for non-residential buildings). The volume of civil works in April was only 14.7% above the past five year’s average, while the other two segments of the market (residential and non-residential buildings) performed better in this regard: the volume of works for residential buildings was 31.5% above the past five year’s average, while the works for non-residential buildings was 18.9% higher.

In full January-April period, the volume of construction works advanced by 17.8% year-on-year and the civil engineering works posted 11.3% advance, roughly half the advance boasted by the works for buildings.

editor@romania-inside.com

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