December key figures
| Dec Qtr 19 | Sep Qtr 19 to Dec Qtr 19 | Dec Qtr 18 to Dec Qtr 19 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $m | % change | % change | ||
| Trend estimates(a) | ||||
| Value of work done | ||||
| For the private sector | 12 240.9 | -2.1 | -10.1 | |
| For the public sector(b) | 8 695.8 | 1.6 | -1.6 | |
| Total engineering construction | 20 946.4 | -0.5 | -6.7 | |
| Seasonally adjusted estimates(a) | ||||
| Value of work done | ||||
| For the private sector | 12 154.4 | -3.0 | -13.2 | |
| For the public sector(b) | 8 694.4 | 0.5 | -0.8 | |
| Total engineering construction | 20 848.8 | -1.5 | -7.9 | |
a. Reference year for chain volume measures is 2017-18.
b. Includes work done by the private sector for the public sector and work done by the public sector.
December key points
Value of work done, chain volume measures
Total
- The trend estimate for the value of total engineering construction work done fell 0.5% in the December quarter.
- The seasonally adjusted estimate for the value of total engineering construction work done fell 1.5% in the December quarter to $20,848.8m.
Private sector
- The trend estimate for the value of work done for the private sector fell 2.1% in the December quarter.
- The seasonally adjusted estimate for the value of work done for the private sector fell 3.0% in the December quarter to $12,154.4m.
Public sector
- The trend estimate for the value of work done for the public sector rose 1.6% in the December quarter.
- The seasonally adjusted estimate for the value of work done for the public sector rose 0.5% in the December quarter to $8,694.4m.
Value of work commenced, current prices
- The value of work commenced in the December quarter was $16,616.5m in original terms, a decrease of 19.5% from the September quarter.
About this issue
This publication updates the preliminary estimates released in Construction Work Done, Australia (cat. no. 8755.0) on 26 February 2020.
Data note
This release includes revisions to Engineering Construction data back to September 2019.
Several time series spreadsheets for recent quarters contain 'np' (not available for publication) annotations. This is due to confidential data being contained in these series.
Trend estimates should be used with caution due to the volatility caused by large engineering projects. For more details on trend estimates, please see paragraphs 22 to 24 of the explanatory notes.
Mining projects tend to be complex in structure and comprise a number of different investment activities including exploration, engineering construction, plant and equipment and buildings. A feature article released in the March 2012 issue of Private New Capital Expenditure and Expected Expenditure, Australia (cat. no. 5625.0) provides a summary of the conceptual basis of the relevant ABS publications that measure investment in Australia, using a hypothetical mining project to illustrate how this investment is reflected in ABS data.
Bushfires
Bushfires resulted in minor disruption to data collection activities during the December 2019 quarter in New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. Quality assurance undertaken by the ABS confirmed that these disruptions did not result in any impacts to Engineering Construction statistics. Whilst it is expected that bushfire rebuilding and recovery activity will have some impact on future Engineering Construction estimates, this activity is not yet present in the December quarter estimates.
Inquiries
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