Ülo Paulus, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that on year, the CPI in the third quarter of 2023 was primarily influenced by the increase in construction workers' wages, which accounted for 42 percent of the total rise in the index, according to a press release.

"Compared with the second quarter of 2023, labor force was 1.7 percent more expensive and the cost of using building machines rose by 0.4 percent, while the price of building materials fell by 0.4 percent," Paulus added.

In addition to the fall in the prices of wood and metal and of products made of these materials, autoclaved aerated concrete and plastic product prices also declined last quarter.

The repair and reconstruction work price index, meanwhile, rose by 0.7 percent on quarter and 3.8 percent on year in the third quarter.

The CPI expresses the change in construction expenditures taking into consideration the price changes of three basic inputs: labor force, building machines as well as building materials.

The calculation of the CPI covers four groups of buildings: detached houses, apartment buildings, industrial buildings as well as office buildings.

The repair and reconstruction work price index, meanwhile, covers office buildings.

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