Compared to April, the level of construction costs in Latvia increased by 0.1% in May. Labor remuneration of workers rose by 1.4%, maintenance and operational costs of machinery and equipment – by 0.1%, but prices of building materials – reduced by 0.5%.
In May, the average level of construction costs was mostly affected by an increase in labor remuneration to auxiliary workers of road building and construction of artificial structures. Reduction in asphalt concrete and dolomite breakstone prices had decreasing impact, according to data from the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia.
Compared to May 2019, construction costs rose by 1.4%. Labor remuneration of workers rose by 7.4%, maintenance and operational costs of machinery and equipment – by 0.5%, but prices of building materials – fell by 0.8%.
In 2020, the data on prices of construction resources were 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. Additionally, registered consumer prices of building materials are used in calculations.
The sample includes construction enterprises with the highest value of own account construction works in 2019. The share of enterprises with the value of own account construction work exceeding EUR 1 million per year accounted for 90%, in 36% of which the value of own account construction work exceeded EUR 5 million per year. The criterion for the sample of trade enterprises is their turnover and specialization. (BNN/Business World Magazine)