A fresh approach to the construction industry – Joint experimental statistics from HCSO and METU shed light on unprecedented characteristics of the sector, 02/10/2024

The series of experimental statistics jointly conducted by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) and Budapest Metropolitan University (METU) continues. The analysis of the construction sector takes a novel approach, combining data from the databases of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office and Eurostat in a new way, focusing on value chain length and spatial concentration. The weight of the construction sector in the national economy does not differ significantly between Hungary and the EU, but is on average higher in Hungary than in the EU. In Hungary, the volume of construction output has almost doubled since the turn of the millennium, consistently exceeding the EU average. The value chain length in Hungary (36.4 percent) is close to the EU average and higher than in Poland (30 percent) and Czechia (28 percent). Domestic construction output is less spatially concentrated than the EU average, with several regions accounting for a larger share of gross value added.

The second of a series of experimental statistics, produced in professional cooperation between the Hungarian Central Statistical Office and Budapest Metropolitan University, focuses on the construction sector. It provides a more nuanced picture than ever before of the functioning of the sector, its territorial characteristics and through the analysis of the value chain length, the relationship between the different segments of the construction industry. The analysis shows that the volume of construction output in Hungary has almost doubled since the turn of the millennium, consistently exceeding the EU average. The construction value chain length, measured as gross value added divided by output, has been close to the EU average since the turn of the millennium, but higher than in Poland and Czechia. The weight of construction (both in value added production and employment) is much smaller, around a third of that of industry, but its share of value added in total output is higher: 36% in 2022 compared to 21% in industry. Industry and construction also differ in terms of their organisational background: while in industry 73 percent of turnover was concentrated in large enterprises with 250 or more employees and a further 16 percent in medium-sized enterprises (50-249 employees) in 2022, in construction 65 percent of turnover was generated by small enterprises with fewer than 50 employees.

The current experimental statistics also show that domestic construction output is less spatially concentrated than the EU average, with several regions accounting for a larger share of gross value added. While the 10 percent of the EU regions with the highest construction value added concentrated 41 percent of the total value added and the 20 percent 57 percent, in Hungary 10 percent (namely Budapest and Pest counties) and 20 percent (Budapest, Pest, Bács-Kiskun, Fejér counties) accounted for 40 percent and 53 percent of the total value added respectively.

At the beginning of 2024, the HCSO launched a new online interface where it publishes its experimental statistics based on the latest innovative methodological procedures, alternative data sources and the combination of existing data, which did not exist before. The experimental statistics will allow to meet emerging data needs, to cover currently perceived knowledge gaps and can provide effective support for a deeper understanding of social and economic processes.

Hungarian Central Statistical Office

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