The number of building permits issued in Croatia rose 18% y/y to 826 in April, statistics office data showed on June 13.

The construction sector crashed hard in the wake of the global economic crisis and shrank by around 30% between 2010 and 2013. However, negative trends in the sector have been reversed since last year. A positive contribution is expected to come from investments in infrastructure projects as the country boosts EU funds absorption. 

In 2015, the number of building permits issued in Croatia fell 4% y/y to 6,328 while it rose 27% y/y to 8,018 in 2016.

A total of 693 permits were issued for buildings and 133 for civil engineering works in April. 571 of a total of 826 projects were new constructions while the remaining 255 were reconstruction projects.

Total planned investment for the 826 projects permitted in April amounts to HRK2.07bn, including HRK1.41bn worth of building projects and HRK662mn worth of civil engineering projects. The permitted projects in April include 958 dwellings with a total floor area of 90,820 m2.

Across January-April, the number of building permits rose by 32% y/y to 3,032, including 2,505 buildings and 527 civil engineering works. 2,095 projects were new constructions and 937 projects were reconstructions.

Croatian contractors plan to invest a total of HRK8.8bn in 3,032 projects, including HRK6.7bn worth of building projects and HRK2.1bn worth of civil engineering works. The projects include 3,894 dwellings with a total floor area of 360,993 m2.

Croatia’s working-day adjusted construction works index increased for the fifth consecutive quarter in Q1, rising by 3.6% y/y, according to the latest data from the statistics institute.

The construction sector grew 3.6% y/y in the first quarter, after growing 2.4% in the last quarter of 2016, according to the latest GDP data.