GLOPRAGlobal Property Radar

Uruguay construction costs rise 0.14% in September 2026

Uruguay's housing construction cost index rose 0.14% in September 2026, driven entirely by materials, while labour and social charges actually fell.

The facts

  • Uruguay's statistics institute INE published the Housing Construction Cost Index (ICCV) for September 2026 on 28 October 2026.
  • The general index reached 119.13 points on a June 2023 base, a monthly rise of +0.14% (0.141% before rounding).
  • Materials were the only meaningful contributor: that component rose 0.395% to 110.58, adding 0.130 percentage points to the total.
  • Labour fell 0.056% to 125.79 and social charges fell 0.051% to 125.94, subtracting 0.018 and 0.009 percentage points.
  • Permits rose most in percentage terms, 0.499% to 117.73, but contributed only 0.001 percentage points. General expenses rose 0.284% to 119.97 and taxes 0.179% to 117.68.
  • The variant that includes public participation, ICCVPu, stands at 119.45, up 5.03% over twelve months and 5.05% so far this year. INE publishes no annual figure for the general index.

What it means for your money

  • Build costs in Uruguay are flat this month. Over a year the public-works variant is up 5.03%.
  • The ICCV is the index Uruguayan construction contracts are escalated against, so this reading feeds straight into progress payments on an indexed build or major refurbishment. Glopra's data puts the Uruguayan national average at 3,362 USD per m², against which a 5.03% twelve-month cost increase is material for anyone building rather than buying.
  • For an existing owner the split matters more than the total: with labour and social charges falling, the pressure sits in manufactured and imported materials, which is where currency moves land.

What to watch

  • INE's next ICCV release follows its monthly pattern, due around the end of November 2026.
  • The report publishes no monthly series in table form, so a single reading cannot establish a trend.
  • The 5.03% twelve-month figure belongs to the ICCVPu variant only and is not the general index's annual rate. The index measures build cost, not what finished homes sell or rent for.

Sources: INE Uruguay https://www.gub.uy/instituto-nacional-estadistica/comunicacion/publicaciones/indice-costo-construccion-vivienda-iccv-setiembre-2026; INE Uruguay https://www5.ine.gub.uy/documents/Estad%C3%ADsticasecon%C3%B3micas/HTML/ICCV/2026/InformeICCV092026.html

Market data: Uruguay · Montevideo