Building costs in Ghana are rising at about half last year’s pace - GSS

The Government Statistician, Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, has said that building costs in Ghana are rising at about half last year’s pace, yet plant and equipment costs jumped 19.1%.

He said building costs in Ghana were 5.1% higher in September 2026 than in September 2025. That is up from 4.6% in August, but about half the 9.7% recorded a year ago.

What this means is simple: building costs are still rising, but at a much slower pace than they were last year, he said.

Between August and September 2026, building costs rose by 0.03%. Put plainly, he said, a project costing GHC100,000 in August would cost about GH¢100,030 in September.

"The rise in the annual rate mostly reflects prices that fell in September 2025, not a fresh price jump this month," Dr Iddrisu said during a press conference in Accra on Tuesday October 27.

He further said that materials make up 76.5% of the building cost basket and account for 97.2% of headline inflation.

In September 2026, materials rose 6.5% and plant and equipment rose 19.1%. Labour fell 3.2%, which pulled the headline rate down he said.

Electrical works alone account for 41.1% of headline building inflation. Reinforcement rose 29.0% and plumbing rose 27.5%, while steel fell 8.8% and cement fell 6.1%.

"Finishing and installation inputs such as reinforcement and plumbing are pushing building costs up. Core structural inputs such as cement and steel are holding them down," he said.