Czech Republic

Czech Republic

Overall construction activity

Construction is a branch of the Czech economy that was affected by the economic crisis of the late 2000s to early 2010s. A short-term recovery took place in 2014 and 2015, when the first EU budget period ended and when buildings financed from these funds were completed. Only in 2017 did the trend return to gradual growth, which accelerated in 2018 and continued in 2019. In 2020, construction output declined despite favorable forecasts. Initially, production was not significantly affected by the COVID 19 pandemic, but later labor shortages, stagnant demand, and inadequate administrative preparation for construction made themselves felt. An extraordinary increase in the price of building materials also contributed to the above problems in 2021 and 2022, yet production increased year on year.

The number of orders and construction permits is still at a good level, so at least modest growth can be expected. The long-term forecast is, however, very uncertain, as there exist many factors that may negatively affect the further development. These include economic fluctuations and their impact on public finances. Another important factor is the unsatisfactory quality of construction legislation, which is currently being revised. This has a negative impact on the investment in buildings and transport infrastructure, both in the private and public sectors. One of the riskiest factors is the lack of labour capacity stemming from the decline of workers and their minimal recovery.







Housebuilding

The development of housing construction – in terms of number of dwellings completed and started dwellings – largely mirrors the development of the construction industry as a whole, with a gradual increase since 2013, but slower than pre-crisis levels. 

In 2019, the number of completed housing units reached 36 000, but growth stalled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The year 2021 brought a boom mainly in housing starts, but the completion rate was about the same as the previous year. In 2022, however, housing starts declined 7,7% year-over-year, while nearly 40 000 homes were completed, the most since 2007.

Due to the age of the buildings, the demographic and social composition of the population and the increasing demands on the quality of housing, an average annual demand for new housing was calculated in the amount of 37 000 per year. This trend was only observed in the years 2007 - 2010. The trend towards a faster increase in the number of apartments in apartment buildings is slowly increasing, even though the number of apartments completed per year in family houses predominates.

Reconstruction, modernization, repair and maintenance of apartments also constitutes a significant share of production in this segment of construction production. The number of new apartments in non-residential buildings has shown an increasing trend in recent years.

Increasing the energy efficiency of apartments is receiving continuous attention. In the newly completed apartments, the share of those that correspond to the category "A" (extremely economical) and category "B" (very economical) is increasing. Additional insulation of older buildings, especially from the period of prefabricated housing, is also being pursued very intensively. More and more attention is being paid to the construction of passive houses.

Non-residential construction

Construction of non-residential buildings remained stagnant through 2017, with some categories even showing a downward trend. The upswing began in 2018, when the number of completed buildings increased by 50% across all construction categories. Along with this, the total area of completed buildings also grew, and with it the investment costs. This mainly affected administrative buildings and large shopping centres. The construction of buildings for urban facilities - primarily schools, university campuses, healthcare buildings, sports and cultural facilities - including their repairs, maintenance and energy efficiency improvements also increased continuously. This trend affects not only large cities, but also regional cities.

The upturn in the economy has also influenced the reconstruction and expansion of industrial buildings and warehouses, as well as the development of new areas, including a complete infrastructure network. Great attention is also paid to the completion of buildings and facilities that ensure compliance with increased environmental protection requirements.

GDP 2022

276
BILLION

POPULATION 2022

10523000

Total investment in construction in 2022

27
BILLION

Civil engineering

In the years 2016 – 2017, civil engineering recorded a significant decrease in the volume of performed works. The reason is that the public sector - i.e., the main client – decreased its orders very significantly from the habitual 45-50% of all orders to only 32% in 2017. The situation improved in 2018 and this continued in subsequent years. Growth resumed last year after stagnation in 2021. 

However, problems still persist due to the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and are most noticeable in transport infrastructure, in particular in motorway infrastructure.  This is due to both the buying up of land and the obstructions resulting from civic initiatives. Both are the result of imperfect legislation. The Building Act is still at ongoing process of approval and its adoption should bring a significant improvement. The situation is better for railway infrastructure, where the works are carried out on the investor´s own land.

Prices of construction materials

Prices of construction products in the Czech Republic in 2022 increased on average by 30 to 40% year-on-year compared to the previous period.

Per cent variation of investment in real terms of previous year

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Number of building permits in residential construction

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