Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) data show that the year-on-year Prime Building Cost Index (PBCI) inflation rate increased to 2.7 percent in May 2026 from 2.2 percent in April.
The increase marks a modest acceleration in building cost inflation after months of deceleration, although this rate remains significantly below the 22 percent recorded a year earlier.
It was driven by rising equipment and specialised building input costs, even as declines in cement and steel prices continued to moderate overall cost pressures across the sector.
The latest figures point to diverging cost trends within the construction industry. While prices for key bulk materials such as cement and steel continued to fall, higher costs for equipment, specialised materials and selected construction inputs exerted upward pressure on the overall index.
PBCI tracks changes in the cost of constructing buildings using materials, labour and plant equipment. On a month-on-month basis, building costs increased by 1.4 percent – extending a run of monthly increases that began at start of the year.
Materials remained the dominant source of inflationary pressure, accounting for virtually all the headline increase. The materials component, which carries a weight of 76.5 percent in the basket, recorded year-on-year inflation at 3.5 percent in May… up from 2.4 percent in April.
Plumbing costs posted the steepest increase, rising 22.8 percent year-on-year. Roofing sheets followed at 19.9 percent while glazing costs increased by 18.5 percent. Electrical works, metalwork and reinforcement materials also registered double-digit inflation.
However, the overall rise in materials inflation was partially offset by continued declines in price for some of the sector’s most heavily weighted inputs. Cement prices fell 14.5 percent year-on-year in May while steel prices declined by 8.1 percent. These two categories exerted the largest downward influence on the overall index.
The data show that electrical works emerged as the single largest contributor to construction inflation, accounting for more than 63 percent of year-on-year inflation. Glazing, metalwork, plumbing and tiles were also among the strongest contributors to rising costs.
A second major development was the sharp acceleration in plant inflation. Costs associated with equipment and construction tools increased 9.8 percent year-on-year in May, more than double the 4.7 percent recorded in April.
However, labour costs moved into deflationary territory. Labour inflation fell to negative 2 percent in May from positive 1 percent in April, making it the principal factor moderating overall building inflation.
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