Production Index in Construction (Base year 2005)

Methodological note on the Production Index in Construction

Scope The quarterly Production Index in Construction serves as a tool for
monitoring short-term developments in construction activity. It is a volume index that approximates the changes in value added at constant prices. It can, therefore, be considered as an indication of the growth rate of construction relevant to a specific reference year, the base year. Data collection For the compilation of the index a quarterly survey is conducted on a sample of enterprises active in Construction. For each reference quarter,
the basic data collected are work done, turnover or hours worked by the production personnel, depending on the enterprise. These data are given classified under four types of projects: houses, apartment buildings, non-residential buildings and civil engineering projects (i.e. projects of open spaces and, generally speaking, everything that cannot be classified as a building), on the basis of the Classification of Types of Construction (CC). Data collection is carried out using every possible
means like phone call, fax, personal visit, or e-mail, depending on the contact person΄s preference. Calculation method As a first step, value and hours worked indices are calculated for the four types of projects. The value indices are subsequently deflated appropriately by the Output Prices Indices (see the methodological note in the corresponding Excel file) for the corresponding types of projects. As
a result of this deflation process, production indices are obtained which are then combined with the hours worked indices. The relative weight for adding up the four types of projects is their share in the gross production value of total construction. Dissemination practices The base year for the index is 2005. This means that the index shows the current evolution of production in relation to its average value in the
year 2005. In the base year, the average of the production index for the four quarters is set to 100,0. For example, an index of 112,3 implies that production has gone up by 12,3% in relation to the average production of 2005. The percentage changes given next to the indices, measure year on year changes between quarters or between yearly averages. The compilation of the Index of Production in Construction follows the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1165/98 concerning short-term
statistics and its amending Regulations. At the national level the index is published unadjusted (gross), i.e. no working day or seasonal adjustment is performed. Together with the unadjusted index, a working day adjusted index is transmitted on a quarterly basis to the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat). Contact For further information:
Isidoros Kypridakis
Last Update: 18/12/2009