Overall construction activity
General economic development in Poland was not as hit by the Covid-19 pandemic as other European countries. A decline of GDP of 2.5% in real terms in 2020 was followed by a strong growth of 5.7% last year. Another growth of 4% is expected for 2022. Poland remains one of the driving economic forces in Europe.
A similar development can be seen in the construction market. Gross fixed Capital Formation Construction fell sharply by 8.5% in 2020, followed by a solid growth of 5.9% last year. Due to the positive overall economic situation, a surplus of more than 4.1% is expected for 2022. The share of GDP, used for construction activity, will be at about 9%.
Housebuilding
Last year the number of permits for houses and flats was 8 % higher than in 2020, the total figure rising to 240.000 units. The growth was both observed in the market for collective dwellings, constructed by developers and investors and in the market of one and two family dwellings for private households. This is a solid base for production in 2022.
2021 investment into residential construction grew strongly by nearly 10% in real terms, with expectations for this year of 5%. With a share of only 25% in 2021 the influence of residential construction on the overall construction activity is much smaller than in Western Europe with about 50%.
GDP 2021
BILLION
POPULATION 2021
Total investment in construction in 2021
BILLION
Non-residential construction
Investment in that sector showed an increase of more than 5% last year which will be reduced to a growth rate of nearly 3% in 2022. Corporate investments will be driven by the ongoing economic upswing and a favourable situation of the companies. Industrial and storage buildings will benefit. In the public sector, a huge growth will be seen in health and educational buildings. The total surplus in real growth in non-residential buildings will be about 3% this year.
Civil engineering
With a share of nearly one third, the civil engineering sector is much more important for overall construction activity than in Western Europe with a share of about 20 %. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Polish government cut its investment plans in 2020, and civil engineering activities dropped by 5 % in real terms. The growth of 4 % last year could not make up for that loss, but another surplus of nearly 4 % is expected for 2022. The biggest push will come from energy and water works, a smaller growth rate is expected in telecommunications and transport infrastructure.
| Per cent variation of investment in real terms on previous year | |||||||
| investment Mln. € fixed prices | |||||||
| Sectors | 2021a | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021a | 2022b | |
| 1. | Building | 31,800 | 4.5 | 8.2 | -10.0 | 7.1 | 3.5 |
| 1.1. Housebuilding | 10,756 | -10.08 | 4.27 | 1.07 | 9.75 | 5.06 | |
| 1.1.1. New | 8,000 | -2.5 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 9.6 | 5.0 | |
| 1.1.2. Renovation | 2,800 | -25.1 | 3.8 | -7.4 | 12.0 | 3.6 | |
| 1.2. Non residential (c) | 21,000 | 12.2 | 9.9 | -14.6 | 5.5 | 2.9 | |
| 1.2.1. Private | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| 1.2.2. Public | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| 2. | Civil Engineering | 15,600 | 27.1 | 5.3 | -5.1 | 4.0 | 3.8 |
| (1 + 2) | Total Construction | 47,363 | 10.9 | 7.5 | -8.5 | 5.9 | 4.1 |
| a: estimate - b: forecast - c: incl. R&M | |||||||
| Number of building permits in residential construction | |||||||
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021a | 2022b | |||
| single dwelling | 97.149 | 90.000 | 88.000 | 97.500 | 94.500 | ||
| collective dwelling | 159.923 | 145.000 | 135.000 | 142.800 | 133.500 | ||
| other types of dwelling | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||
| Total | 257.072 | 235.000 | 223.000 | 240.300 | 228.000 | ||
| (Collective dwellings and other types of buildings: in number of flats) | |||||||
