UK construction output fell 0.2% in August 2026 as index slipped to 99.2

UK construction output fell 0.2% in August 2026 compared with July, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), taking the sector's output index to 99.2 from 99.5 the month before.

The figure, published on 15 October 2026 as part of the ONS monthly estimate of UK gross domestic product, is the fourth consecutive monthly decline. The ONS recorded falls of 0.5% in May 2026, 0.3% in June and 0.5% in July.

Compared with August 2025, when the index stood at 101.1, output was down 1.9% over the year. That percentage is calculated from the published index, which is rounded to one decimal place.

The highest reading of the index in the past 36 months was 101.6, most recently in April 2025.

Jobs and pay

The ONS estimated 29,000 job vacancies in UK construction in the three months from June to August 2026. A year earlier, in June to August 2025, the figure was 31,000. The vacancy count is a three-month average.

Average weekly earnings in construction were £819 in July 2026, measured as total pay excluding arrears and seasonally adjusted. In July 2025 the comparable figure was £812.

On the ONS single-month measure of total pay, annual growth in construction earnings was 0.9% in July 2026.

Material prices

The ONS producer price index for concrete products for construction, which measures the price of output sold on the domestic market with 2015 set at 100, stood at 196.1 in August 2026. In August 2025 it was 193.2, a rise of 1.5% over the year.

The equivalent index for bricks, tiles and clay construction products was 190.4 in August 2026, compared with 184.4 a year earlier. That is an increase of 3.3% over the year.

Both annual percentage changes for the price indices are calculated from the published index values rather than quoted directly by the ONS.

The table below sets out each measure alongside its value a year earlier.

What happens next

The next ONS monthly GDP estimate, which will carry the construction output figure for September 2026, is due on 12 November 2026.

UK construction in numbers: latest official figures

Measure	Latest	Period	A year earlier	Change
Construction output index	99.2	August 2026	101.1	-1.9%
Output growth on the previous month	-0.2%	August 2026	-0.3%
Job vacancies in construction	29,000	June to August 2026	31,000	-2,000
Average weekly earnings in construction	£819	July 2026	£812	+0.9%
Price index: concrete products for construction	196.1	August 2026	193.2	+1.5%
Price index: bricks, tiles and clay construction products	190.4	August 2026	184.4	+3.3%

How the figures were compiled

All figures come from ONS time series published on ons.gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0, read from the JSON files that accompany each series. Construction output is the construction index within the ONS monthly estimate of UK GDP, a chained volume measure that is seasonally adjusted; the ONS notes that growth rates worked out from this index may differ slightly, because of rounding, from those in its Construction Output in Great Britain release. Monthly growth, vacancies, earnings, annual pay growth and the price indices are quoted as the ONS publishes them, while the annual changes in the output index and the price indices are calculated from the published values and rounded to one decimal place. The series are released on different dates, so each figure carries its own period, and official statistics are subject to revision.