As inflation cools in western Europe and the US, it’s roaring away in eastern Europe. Gardiner & Theobald surveys the world and tells us what it sees
World roundup
Construction cost escalation across the globe has been cooling in China, western Europe, Australia, Japan and the US. However in eastern Europe many countries are experiencing double-digit tender price inflation, fuelled by the enlargement of the European Union.
The average building inflation for 23 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and North America slipped to 5.6% from 6.2% for the same group of countries the previous year.
Six eastern European countries and Finland accounted for most of the global construction cost escalation, with the average tender price inflation for this group of countries at 11% this year, compared with 9% in 2006.
In other regions, inflation was more tame. For nine western European countries, excluding Finla