Building costs rise by 3.2% in May

Building costs rose by 3.2 per cent in May 2021 from the year before, according to Statistics Finland.

The costs of materials went up by 3.6 per cent and labour costs by 3.5 per cent.

The prices of services, however, fell by 0.1 per cent from one year ago. The accelerating rise in the price of timber particularly contributed to higher prices of materials.

In addition to the significant rise in the price of timber, the prices of steel structures also continued to grow.

The high annual change in labour costs is caused by the low level of the index in May 2020, when a temporary lowering of employers’ pension contributions was introduced because of the coronavirus.

From April to May, the total index of building costs rose by 0.5 per cent. The prices of materials went up by 0.7 per cent and labour costs by 0.3 per cent. The prices of services remained unchanged from the previous month.