Building activities in the country fell by 22.4 percent in the first quarter of the year on the back of lower residential and nonresidential construction, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday.
Residential-building construction activities, which accounted for about 66.5 percent of the total, dropped by 25.5 percent to 20,515 from 27,528 in the same quarter last year.
Nonresidential construction activities, which accounted for 18.7 percent of the total, also went down by 10.8 percent to 5,755 from 6,449.
Addition and alteration and repair of existing structures had shares of 3.8 percent and 11.0 percent, respectively, to total constructions.
PSA said that both types of constructions also declined at an annual rate of 26.4 percent for addition and 19.0 percent for alteration and repair.
In terms of the number of constructions, the top three areas were Region 4A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces or Calabarzon, Region 12 (Central Visayas) and Region 1 (Ilocos Region).
In terms of value, the total construction activities amounted to P86.1 billion, down by 20.1 percent from the P107.6 billion a year ago.
The average cost per square meter of residential constructions amounted to P10,630 up by 0.1 percent from the P10,621 last year.
The average cost per square meter of nonresidential constructions on the other hand, went down by 3.8 percent to P10,259 from P10,668 in 2019.
(source: The Manila Times)