Latest building materials and components statistics

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.

April 2025: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has paused publication of its Producer Price Indices (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,(1) has also been impacted by the ONS pausing. Until PPI publication resumes in the summer, 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 2025, which are available to subscribers.

Brick deliveries rise, still down on pre-pandemic level

Brick deliveries (seasonally adjusted) increased by 22.6% in the 12 months to February 2025 and increased by 8.3% compared with January 2025. Stocks of all types of bricks at the end of February stood at 459 million, which was 10.1% less than at the end of February 2024 (511 million).

By comparison with pre-pandemic lockdown activity levels, seasonally adjusted brick deliveries in February 2025 were 15.5% lower than in February 2020.

^{Source: Department for Business & Trade – Building materials and components statistics, Table 9a}

DBT’s report also showed concrete block deliveries (seasonally adjusted) were up by 2.6% in the year to February 2025 and increased by 6.6% on a monthly basis.

Dr David Crosthwaite, Chief Economist at BCIS, said: ‘With brick and block deliveries both increasing, perhaps there are signs of recovery in residential construction. Brick deliveries are at their highest level since 2022 and, as a leading indicator, might suggest that manufactures are anticipating an uptick in activity’.

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^{(1) Department of Business and Trade – Building materials and components statistics: material price indices methodology  - here}

^{(2) Department of Business and Trade – Building materials and components statistics: March 2025  - here}