Costs for new builds increase by 14.3% in April, after rising 11.6% in March

The cost of construction, particularly of ‘new builds’, is continuing to climb, as raw materials like steel become increasingly more expensive.

March already saw costs climb by roughly 11.6%. They have now gone up by a further 2.7%, reports statistics institute INE today.

INE’s ICCHN (costs of new building) index shows how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine set off this inflationary spiral which has little to do with the cost of labour.

As Público points out, coming as the country faces a generalised increase in prices, with May’s inflation rate hitting 8%, these changes within the construction sector are “another pressure factor on economic activity” in Portugal.

Materials most contributing to escalating costs are steels and ceramic products, explains INE, followed by price increases in “diesel, carpentry works, cork aggolmerates and tiles – all of which have registered year-on-year variations of more than 30%”.

Source: Lusa