Between Q4 2020 and Q1 2021 the construction price index rose more, by 0.7 percent, however. The index covers both residential and commercial buildings.

Ülo Paulus, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that behind the recent rise was the higher cost of materials, primarily, accounting for three quarters of the total rise in index.

He said: "Compared with the previous quarter, labor force was 0.4 percent more expensive and the cost of using building machines rose by 0.3 percent, while the cost of materials rose by 0.9 percent."

Meanwhile, the repair and reconstruction work price index, referring to office buildings, rose by 0.3 percent on Q4 2020, but fell by 0.3 percent on year to Q1 2021.

The construction price index expresses the change in construction expenditures taking into consideration the price changes of three basic inputs: labor force, building materials and building machines, Statistics Estonia says.

Its calculation covers four groups of buildings: Detached houses, blocks of flats, industrial buildings and office buildings.

The repair and reconstruction work price index covers office buildings alone.

Statistics Estonia collects and analyses its data on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

More detailed information is here.

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