Compared to April, the level of construction costs in Latvia grew by 0.6% in May. Labor remuneration of workers increased by 1.7%, prices of building materials by 0.5%, and maintenance and operational costs of machinery and equipment by 0.1%.
In May, the average level of construction costs was affected the most by the increase in labor remuneration for workers carrying out finishing works (roofers, plasterers, sanitary technicians and others), auxiliary workers of road building and construction of artificial structures, as well as assemblers, according to data compiled by the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia.
Compared to May 2018, construction costs went up by 4.3%. Labor remuneration of workers grew by 8.2%, prices of building materials by 3.5%, and maintenance and operational costs of machinery and equipment by 3%.
In 2019, the data on prices of construction resources are provided by approximately 200 construction enterprises and more than 50 trade enterprises. When calculating the Construction Cost Index, the prices of building materials submitted by enterprises for the calculation of producer price indices in industry and import price index are also used.
The sample includes construction enterprises with the highest value of own account construction works in 2018. The share of enterprises with the value of own account construction work exceeding EUR 1 million per year accounted for 87%, in 36% of which the value of own account construction work exceeded EUR 5 million per year. The criterion used to sample trade enterprises is their turnover and specialization. (BNN/Business World Magazine)