Preliminary data released by the Algemeen Bureau voor de Statistiek (ABS), Suriname’s central statistics agency, shows that average construction prices in the country increased by 7.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, following a multi-year period of extreme price volatility in the sector. Compared to the final quarter of 2025, the quarterly price increase was far more muted, hitting just 0.1%, a sign of slowing momentum in construction inflation.
The ABS constructs the national Bouwprijsindex (Construction Price Index, BPI), a key metric that tracks average price changes for all goods and services used across the domestic construction industry. In Q1 2026, the index reached 1236.9 points, up slightly from 1235.6 points recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025, and a notable climb from 1154.2 points in the same quarter a year earlier.
To compile this index, ABS analysts collect price data from approximately 50 fixed measurement points across the urban districts of Paramaribo and Wanica. The index’s basket of monitored goods and services includes 107 separate items, grouped into 16 core categories ranging from structural steel and concrete works, carpentry, masonry, and paving to labor costs.
Breakdowns of the latest quarterly data reveal broad-based price increases across multiple sub-sectors of construction. Compared to Q1 2025, the sharpest upward moves in index readings were recorded in carpentry, masonry and concrete pouring, plumbing installations, electrical work, and drainage construction. Structural steel and concrete works also remained at historically high price levels, the data confirmed.
Beyond the current quarter readings, the new ABS figures highlight a clear trend of gradual stabilization in construction prices after the extreme swings the sector experienced over the past three years. In 2023, annual construction inflation hit more than 50%, driven by widespread supply chain disruptions and input cost shocks. That dramatic surge was followed by an 8.3% year-on-year drop in construction prices in 2024, before a 10.7% annual increase was registered across 2025. The smaller 7.2% rise in Q1 2026 marks a further cooling from the 2025 full-year pace.
ABS also noted a key methodological note for the index: labor cost components do not rely on separate separate price surveys, and the share of labor in overall construction costs is held constant for all calculations to maintain consistency in trend tracking. The next public release of the Construction Price Index is scheduled for July 31, 2026.