The real estate activities sector invested the most in the first quarter of 2019. This sector invested SEK 34.6 billion in total, of which new construction, extensions and rebuilding of existing buildings accounted for SEK 15.2 billion and housing accounted for SEK 13.4 billion. This was followed by SEK 13.1 billion invested by the industrial sector. Machinery and equipment accounted for SEK 11.2 billion within this sector. Electricity, gas and heating plants, water and wastewater plants and waste facilities accounted for 11 percent of investments, SEK 7.9 billion, in the first quarter.

Machinery and equipment is the largest asset class

Enterprises invested most in machinery and equipment. This class of assets accounted for 44 percent of investments during the quarter, while construction, extensions and rebuilding of existing buildings accounted for 28 percent and housing accounted for 19 percent. A new feature in the investment survey this year is that it includes purchases of buildings and plants. These accounted for SEK 6.7 billion of the investments in the first quarter, which corresponds to 9 percent.

Investment survey gets new design in 2019

The investment survey was revised in various ways between 2018 and 2019. The questionnaire has been redesigned to better align with accounting principles in enterprises; references to BAS accounts were added and the investment concept was adapted. After this change, ‘investments’ refers to the acquisition of tangible assets with an economic life of at least three years, compared to the former definition, which included investments in assets with an economic life of at least one year. Expenditure on repair and maintenance and new leasing contracts have been removed from the questionnaire; forecasts are now requested only on a yearly basis, rather than per quarter. In future, results from the investment survey will be published four times a year, rather than three times a year. These changes may lead to some breaks in the time series.