Northern Ireland Construction Bulletin - 1 January to 31 March 2004

STATISTICAL PRESS RELEASE

Northern Ireland Construction Bulletin

Central Survey Unit of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) today published the latest edition of the Northern Ireland Construction Bulletin (see enclosed copy). 

The primary measure of the value of construction output in Northern Ireland (the Index of Construction) is obtained from the Northern Ireland Quarterly Construction Enquiry (QCE).  This is a statutory survey of construction firms operating in Northern Ireland.  Each quarter a sample of construction firms is asked to provide details of the value of construction activity they have undertaken in a specified period.

This Bulletin provides a measure of the value of construction output in Northern Ireland for the period 1 January to 31 March 2004.

The key finding from the QCE for the period 1 January to 31 March 2004 is that the Index of Construction is down 1.4 points on the previous quarter.

The detailed changes during the three months ending 31 March 2004 are as follows:

·        The seasonally adjusted Index of Construction was 102.7, down 1.4 points on the previous quarter (104.1) and up 2.8 points on the corresponding quarter in 2003 (99.9)

·        The estimated seasonally adjusted value of construction output (at 2000 prices) was £569 million, a decrease of 1.4% (£7.8 million) on the previous quarter (£577 million) and an increase of 2.7% on the corresponding quarter in 2003 (£554 million)

An electronic copy of the Bulletin is available on the web at

The planned publication dates of the next four quarterly Bulletins are as follows:

Further information about the content of the bulletin is available from:

Central Survey Unit

Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

McAuley House

2-14 Castle Street

BELFAST

BT1 1SY

Contact name:     Ms Amanda Filmer

Telephone:           (028) 9034 8252

Fax:                       (028) 9034 8276

E-mail:                  Amanda.Filmer@dfpni.gov.uk

Web:                     http://www.csu.nisra.gov.uk