Latest building materials and components statistics

Each month the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) publishes a selection of building materials and components data for Great Britain including statistics on bricks and concrete blocks production, deliveries and stocks⁽¹⁾.

Brick and block deliveries hit six year-lows

Provisional data published by DBT show brick deliveries (seasonally adjusted) in Great Britain decreased by 22.8% in the 12 months to July 2026, reaching their lowest monthly level since May 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Deliveries were also down by 10.0% on the previous month and by 38.8% on the level in pre-pandemic 2019.

Stocks of all types of bricks at the end of July 2026 stood at 541 million, an increase of 16.1% on the end of July 2025 (466.1 million) and 42.6% on the level in pre-pandemic July 2019 (379.5 million).

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

DBT’s report showed concrete block deliveries (seasonally adjusted) in Great Britain also reached their lowest level since May 2020 and were down by 10.8% in the year to July 2026 and by 0.2% on a monthly basis. Compared with July 2019, deliveries were down by 30.5%.

Total stocks of concrete blocks stood at 8.7 million square metres’ worth at the end of July, an increase of 55.2% on July 2025 and 18.0% higher than July 2019.

Elsewhere, DBT data going back to 2013 show a longer-term decline in sand and gravel sales and ready-mixed concrete deliveries (both seasonally adjusted).

In 2Q2026, 9.3 million tonnes of sand and gravel were sold in Great Britain, the lowest level shown in the available data and below the previous record seen during the pandemic in 2020. Sales in the second quarter of 2026 were down by 9.2% on the year and by 36.6% compared with pre-pandemic 2Q2019.

^{Source: Department for Business and Trade – Building materials and components statistics, Table 4a}

Meanwhile, seasonally adjusted deliveries of ready-mixed concrete in 2Q2026 (2.6 million cubic metres worth) were down by 6.1% on 2Q2025 and by more than one-third on deliveries in the same quarter in 2019.

^{Source: Department for Business and Trade – Building materials and components statistics, Table 6a}

Sam Parkin, senior economist at BCIS, said: ‘While input costs remain high, six-year lows in brick and concrete block deliveries and sustained declines in aggregate sales speak to the broader downturn in construction activity across the market. Soft demand is keeping prices lower in the brick and concrete block markets as producers look to remain competitive, though any return in demand will likely see prices rise and those increases passed on.

‘Interest rates and the Autumn Budget, due to be set out in October, remain risks. While Bank Rate was held at 3.75%, it doesn’t rule out the possibility of further interest rate hikes in coming months which could impact the construction industry by limiting project viability and project starts. Positive spending commitments from the government could help lift the public housing sector, prompting some demand that could feed through into brick and concrete block prices. For now, though, the industry will continue to face headwinds that keep activity in some sectors muted, as reflected in official data.’

In an open letter ahead of the Autumn Budget, Mineral Products Association (MPA) chief executive Paul Adeleke recently urged Chancellor John Healey to protect capital budgets. He emphasised that, without MPA members, the government would struggle to fulfil its manifesto commitments⁽²⁾.

New MPA data reinforce the decline in sales of key construction materials, with ready-mixed concrete, aggregates and mortar all reportedly well below last year’s levels.

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^{(1) Building materials and components statistics: August 2026  -  here}

^{(2) Housing downturn deepens as concrete and mortar slump – MPA  -  here}