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Trends over recent years in the level of activity of the construction industry as a whole are shown in table 20.3, which indicates the value of work done, in chain volume terms, by kind of activity. Chain volume measures show changes in value after the direct effects of price changes have been eliminated. The table illustrates that, in 2000-01, Residential construction accounted for 39% of the activity, with Engineering construction accounting for a further 36%, and Non-residential construction for the remaining 25%. The introduction of The New Tax System was a significant factor behind the value of work done in that year being substantially lower than in 1999-2000, reversing the growth in the proceeding four years.
The table also illustrates how the pattern of building activity changes over time. The biggest change in the sectoral shares of total construction activity occurred in 1993-94. Then Residential building accounted for 45% of the total while Non-residential building only accounted for 24%. Only two years before, in 1991-92, the composition of total construction activity was 39% Residential building, 31% Engineering construction and the remaining 30% Non-residential building.
20.3 TOTAL CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY(a), Value of work done - By type of activity |
|
| Residential building | Non-residential building | Engineering construction | Total construction(b) |
| $m | $m | $m | $m |
|
1991-92 | 15,748 | 12,146 | 12,370 | 40,246 |
1992-93 | 18,375 | 11,051 | 12,751 | 42,213 |
1993-94 | 20,065 | 10,746 | 13,821 | 44,762 |
1994-95 | 20,779 | 11,699 | 14,158 | 46,720 |
1995-96 | 17,207 | 13,092 | 15,485 | 45,805 |
1996-97 | 17,025 | 14,282 | 15,964 | 47,254 |
1997-98 | 20,208 | 14,350 | 17,982 | 52,570 |
1998-99 | 21,896 | 15,058 | 19,804 | 56,802 |
1999-2000 | 25,552 | 14,690 | 19,908 | 60,150 |
2000-01 | 18,747 | 12,193 | 17,544 | 48,485 |
|
(a) Chain volume measures, reference year is 1999-2000.
(b) Chain volume measures are not additive for most periods; the component measures do not sum to a total in the same way as the corresponding current price components do. |
Source: Building Activity, Australia (8752.0); Engineering Construction Activity, Australia (8762.0). |
A longer time series of the data presented in table 20.3 is shown in graph 20.4. It shows the decline in the value of Residential construction from mid 1995, followed by a steady recovery from about mid 1997, accelerating to record levels ahead of the introduction of The New Tax System in July 2000, followed by a significant downturn.
Construction activity for the public sector has remained relatively constant at around $15b annually over the last 10 years, as shown in the graph 20.5. The volatility evident in the total construction series is mainly due to private sector construction activity. The growth in total construction activity from June 1997 until June 2000 was driven by the growth in private sector activity. The decline in private sector construction activity following July 2000 is evident.
More detailed information on the value of residential and non-residential building work done, in chain volume terms, is presented in table 20.6. The value of building work done fell by $9,301m (23.1%) to $30,941m in 2000-01, following a rise of 8.9% in 1999-2000. The 2000-01 decline was most heavily influenced by the drop in work done on new houses (contributing some 73.2% of the fall). Non-residential construction activity fell by $2,497m.
20.6 BUILDING ACTIVITY(a), Value of work done - By type of activity
|
| New residential building | | | |
|
| | | |
| Houses | Other residential
buildings | Total(b) | Alterations and additions
to residential buildings | Non-residential
building | Total
building(b) |
| $m | $m | $m | $m | $m | $m |
|
1991-92 | 10,369.5 | 2,936.4 | 13,382.1 | 2,366.4 | 12,146.3 | 27,959.5 |
1992-93 | 11,919.4 | 3,888.8 | 15,871.8 | 2,510.1 | 11,050.9 | 29,566.4 |
1993-94 | 12,873.2 | 4,494.0 | 17,419.3 | 2,655.5 | 10,745.9 | 31,022.8 |
1994-95 | 12,700.1 | 5,183.6 | 17,892.6 | 2,893.2 | 11,698.4 | 32,668.5 |
1995-96 | 10,141.3 | 4,274.6 | 14,416.5 | 2,790.5 | 13,091.8 | 30,326.1 |
1996-97 | 10,023.2 | 4,215.6 | 14,239.8 | 2,785.0 | 14,282.1 | 31,297.3 |
1997-98 | 12,034.5 | 4,927.3 | 16,966.6 | 3,241.1 | 14,350.1 | 34,585.0 |
1998-99 | 12,779.1 | 5,676.9 | 18,458.4 | 3,438.2 | 15,058.1 | 36,983.0 |
1999-2000 | 15,336.9 | 6,322.0 | 21,658.8 | 3,892.9 | 14,690.0 | 40,241.9 |
2000-01 | 10,663.3 | 5,100.8 | 15,764.2 | 2,983.2 | 12,193.5 | 30,940.8 |
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(a) Chain volume measures, reference year is 1999-2000.
(b) Chain volume measures are not additive; for most periods the component measures do not sum to a total in the same way as the corresponding current price components do. |
Source: Building Activity, Australia (8752.0). |
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