BCIS CapX provides a comprehensive, detailed and easy-to-use method of measuring cost movement for building and civil engineering. Widely used in the construction and infrastructure sector to help fairly allocate risk between the client and sub-contractors.
Published: 07/08/2025
Each month the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) publishes construction material price indices, categorised under All Work, New Housing, Other New Work and Repair and Maintenance, as well as tracking a selection of building materials and components for the UK, and providing statistics on bricks and concrete blocks production, deliveries and stock for Great Britain(1).
August 2025: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has paused publication of its Producer Price Index (PPIs), which has in turn led to DBT pausing publication of new data in its Construction Material Price Indices.
BCIS data, which is used in the compilation of the DBT indices, has also been impacted by the ONS pausing. Until PPI publication resumes (expected in October 2025), BCIS is using internal PPI modelling to estimate provisional values.
As such, BCIS has published estimated figures for DBT Construction Material Price Indices: All Work, Housing, New Work, Repair and Maintenance for February to June 2025, which are available to subscribers.
Brick deliveries rise, still down on pre-pandemic level
Brick deliveries (seasonally adjusted) increased by 12.8% in the 12 months to June 2025, but decreased by 4.9% compared with the previous month.
By comparison with pre-pandemic lockdown activity levels, seasonally adjusted brick deliveries in June were 28% lower than in June 2019.
Stocks of all types of bricks at the end of June stood at 501 million, which was 5.4% less than at the end of June 2024 (529.4 million) and 34.4% higher than stocks in June 2019.
Source: Department for Business & Trade – Building materials and components statistics, Table 9a
DBT’s report also showed concrete block deliveries (seasonally adjusted) were down by 4.6% in the year to June 2025 and decreased by 2.4% on a monthly basis. They were 17.1% down on June 2019.
Total stocks of concrete blocks stood at 5.9 million square metres at the end of June – almost one-fifth (19.3%) down on June 2024.
Dr David Crosthwaite, chief economist at BCIS, said: ‘Another disappointing set of data for the construction sector with both brick and block deliveries down on a monthly basis.
‘The much-anticipated uptick in demand just doesn’t seem to be materialising and, given issues in the wider economy, we might have to wait a bit longer to see demand recover.’
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(1) GOV.UK – Construction building materials: commentary July 2025 - here
