The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) says conditions are ripe for government to accelerate infrastructure projects under the Big Push programme, urging it to capitalise on the current decline in building costs.
Mr. Omar Seidu, Acting Deputy Government Statistician, at the release of the Prime Building Cost Index (PBCI) for November 2025, in Accra, stated that the year-on-year building construction cost had seen a significant decline.
The PBCI, which tracks how overall construction costs change over time by measuring prices of building materials, labour, and plant equipment, recorded year-on-year inflation of 5.9 per cent in November 2025, down from 21.7 per cent in November 2024.
At the sub-group level, labour inflation dropped from 22 per cent in November 2024 to 12.7 per cent in 2025, materials inflation reduced from 22.3 per cent to 4.2 per cent, while plant inflation declined from 9.7 per cent to 5.3 per cent.
“The construction economy is in a period of relative stability. Costs are still higher than last year, but the pace of increase has slowed dramatically. This is a useful environment for households, businesses, and government to plan and execute projects,” Mr. Seidu said.
“With prices relatively stable, it is an opportune time to fast-track the infrastructure programme, especially the Big Push programme. The current stability provides an ideal environment to accelerate road construction, hospital building, school infrastructure,” he noted.
The Acting Deputy Government Statistician, however, called for investments and incentives for local production and improvement in utilisation of the top 10 high contributors of inflation in the sector, noting their impact on overall sector inflation.
They are steel (37.1 per cent), skilled labour (26.3 per cent), unskilled labour (15.5 per cent), tiles (13.2 per cent), equipment (4.7 per cent), glazing (4.2 per cent), coarse aggregate (3.2 per cent), surface finishes (2.1 per cent), timber (1.9 per cent) and door (1.6 per cent).
“Ghana now has local capacity for plumbing materials and other exports. If more companies produce these essential items locally, it will reduce our reliance on imports and stabilise the inflationary pressures we currently face,” he stated.
He encouraged the government to target the top drivers to help stabilise the prime building cost index for the construction sector as well as upskilling artisans by expanding training for them.
He also urged households to phase their projects to take advantage of the reduced cost, advising businesses to fix the price of major items for medium-term contracts before any potential price hikes.
Mr. Seidu said GSS had rebased the PBCI, using 2023 as the rebasing year, with the new series now tracking 406 items from 16 regional markets across 489 outlets, providing much greater detail than the old series.
He explained that the new system tracked four different building models including hotels and office blocks, compared to only a two-bedroom house used previously, giving a comprehensive view of the construction industry.
Mr. Alhassan Iddrisu Abdulai, the Head of Price Indices and Inflation, speaking exclusively with the Ghana News Agency after the event, said: “a steady decline in construction costs could make building cheaper.”
“Fiscal policy discipline by the government is contributing to economic stability [and] inflation is easing partly due to the stabilisation of the local currency. If this stability continues, building will become more affordable than it was in the recent past, which the government could benefit from current economic conditions,” he said.
GNA