The cost of constructing buildings in the country recorded a marginal increase in May this year, with year-on-year inflation rising to 2.7 per cent from 2.2 per cent in April, the latest Prime Building Cost Index (PBCI) released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has indicated.
Despite the uptick, the inflation rate remains significantly lower than the 22.0 per cent recorded in May 2025, signalling a continued easing of price pressures within the building and construction sector.
The PBCI, which tracks changes in the prices of key construction inputs such as building materials, labour and equipment, serves as an important guide for investors, contractors, developers and policymakers in planning and budgeting construction projects.
The report, copied to The Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday, showed that overall building input prices increased by 1.4 per cent on a month-on-month basis between April and May 2026, slightly lower than the 1.5 per cent recorded in April.
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Building materials, which account for 76.5 per cent of the PBCI basket, remained the main driver of inflation in the sector.
The report indicated that the year-on-year inflation rate for materials rose to 3.5 per cent in May from 2.4 per cent in April.
In contrast, labour costs continued to decline, recording a year-on-year inflation rate of negative 2.0 per cent, compared with a positive 1.0 per cent in April. On a month-on-month basis, labour prices fell by 0.6 per cent.
The report attributed the decline largely to lower costs for both skilled and unskilled labour, which recorded year-on-year inflation rates of negative 1.7 per cent and negative 2.6 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, the plant category, which includes equipment and small tools used in construction, recorded the highest increase among the three major groups.
Plant inflation rose from 4.7 per cent in April to 9.8 per cent in May, with prices increasing by 4.7 per cent on a month-on-month basis.
At the sub-group level, plumbing materials registered the highest year-on-year inflation rate of 22.8 per cent, while cement recorded the lowest at negative 14.5 per cent.
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The report further revealed that 14 out of the 23 sub-groups tracked under the index recorded inflation rates above the national average of 2.7 per cent.
It noted that with material prices showing signs of stability, prospective homeowners might find it an opportune time to commence or resume building projects, while phasing construction activities to take advantage of easing cost pressures.
For businesses, the report recommended securing medium-term supply contracts and locking in current prices ahead of any potential rebound in input costs.
It also urged the government to accelerate infrastructure projects, including the "Big Push" agenda, while addressing labour cost fluctuations through expanded artisan and skills training programmes to strengthen the construction workforce.
The PBCI is indexed to the 2023 base year and measures changes in construction costs over time, providing a reliable indicator of inflation trends within Ghana's building sector.
