Evolution of the construction price index between 2010 and 2022;
Credit: STATEC
Luxembourg's national statistics portal, STATEC, has reported that construction prices are skyrocketing in the Grand Duchy.
Construction prices are not immune to the general inflationary context and continue their marked upward trend, already observed in April 2021. The construction price index increased by 8.6% between October 2021 and April 2022, compared to 4.9% in the previous half year.
Over one year, prices in residential construction increased by 13.9%. The annual rate of change thus reached its highest level since April 1975. According to STATEC, this new exceptional and generalised increase, which concerns all trades, is mainly explained by the acceleration in the prices of many building materials and petroleum products.
Structural work was the trade with the strongest half-yearly growth (up 9.1%). The recent surge in fuel prices has had a strong impact on the cost of earthworks (up 6.9%) but also transportation costs in general. The substantial increase in the cost of various building materials used in masonry has weighed heavily on structural work prices. The increase in the cost of labour following the wage indexation of 1 April 2022 also contributed to the increase in end prices, albeit to a lesser extent.
The prices of roofing work, which were strongly affected by the surge in the price of wood in 2021, have continued to soar, driven this time by roofing (up 9.8%) and zinc (up 8.7%) works.
An increase of 8.3% was recorded for the closing of the building, which includes windows with solar protection devices, garage doors and facades. The increase in the cost of supplies, transport and assembly costs are all factors which, combined, considerably increase the bill for clients: over one semester, they had to pay an average of 10.1% more for the exterior carpentry of a residential construction and 6.3% more for a facade.
Prices for technical installations have also risen, increasing by 7.2% between October 2021 and April 2022 (compared to a 4.2% increase the previous year).
