Slower growth in construction investments
Construction spending in Switzerland increased by a nominal 0.5 percent in 2016 compared with the previous year. Construction investment in building construction projects also increased by 0.5 percent.
Total construction spending comprises construction investment and public maintenance work. As the provisional data from the 2016 construction statistics of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (SFSO) show, construction spending rose by 0.5 percent in 2016 (+1.0% in real terms). In 2015, they had still increased by 1.4 percent and in 2014 by 3.0 percent.
Investments in remodeling projects increased by 0.1 percent compared to 2015 and the investment amount in new construction projects increased by 0.5 percent year-on-year. Private clients in particular increased their investments in remodeling projects (+1.1%) while they remained almost stable in new construction projects (+0.1%).
Investments in building construction projects increased by 0.5% year-on-year, while those in civil engineering projects decreased by 0.5% year-on-year. Private clients significantly increased investments in civil engineering (+16.8%), while the investment amount in building construction decreased very slightly (-0.3%).
As of the reporting date of December 31, 2016, the work in progress (expenditures) for the following year 2017 of construction projects under construction (including public maintenance work) had increased by 4.1 percent compared to the previous year's reporting date, the FSO writes.
