Bristol more expensive than Paris or Sydney to build in

The South West city has been ranked among the priciest in the world for construction

Bristol is among the top 10 most expensive places in the world to build in, according to a new report. The South West city ranked ninth on the International Construction Cost Index, above Los Angeles, Paris and Sydney.

The findings, which were compiled by design consultancy Arcadis, compared construction costs across 100 major cities around the globe.

Geneva, in Switzerland, took the top spot followed by London, Zurich, Munich and Copenhagen.

The index found the world’s highest-cost construction markets remain concentrated in mature cities with deep demand and constrained delivery capacity.

While Arcadis said the top of the ranking remained “broadly consistent”, the wider market context is understood to have shifted. Global construction markets are moving from inflation-led uncertainty into a more selective phase of investment, where capital is being deployed more carefully rather than demand simply slowing.

Edel Christie, global president of places at Arcadis, said: “The need to build has not gone away. Cities still need homes, infrastructure, resilient energy systems, modern workplaces and digital infrastructure to support the next generation of economic growth.

“The opportunity is clear, but investment will flow to places and programmes where delivery is credible, viable and achievable — not just cheap to build.”

The report found that many developers are increasingly favouring complex, high-performing assets that support long-term growth such as modern workplaces, healthcare facilities, laboratories, data centres and advanced manufacturing plants.

Ms Christie said one area where demand was “abundant” and where the construction sector was “rising to the delivery challenge” was in data centres.

“The spectacular growth of the wider data centre ecosystem has created a critical scaling challenge for the construction sector: the ability to deploy huge project teams quickly while maintaining detailed control over scope, quality, schedule and risk,” she said.

The Arcadis report also highlighted the breadth of cost variation across global construction markets. While high-cost locations are concentrated in Europe, the UK and North America, some of the lowest-cost locations were found across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Bengaluru ranked as the least expensive city in the index, followed by Buenos Aires, Delhi, Mumbai and Ho Chi Minh City.

10 most expensive cities in world for construction

1. Geneva

2. London

3. Switzerland

4. Munich

5. Copenhagen

6. New York

7. San Francisco

8. Dublin

9. Bristol

10. Philadelphia