Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the average daily wage of construction workers decreased further by 2.4% quarter-to-quarter to MOP698 in the fourth quarter of 2019. The average daily wages of local construction workers (MOP960) and non-resident construction workers (MOP604) dropped by 2.6% and 1.8% respectively quarter-to-quarter.
In terms of occupation, the average daily wages of bricklayers & plasterers (MOP634) and carpenters (MOP816) fell by 8.1% and 3.1% respectively, while the wages of structural iron erectors (MOP758), concrete formwork carpenters (MOP721) and electricians & electrical workers (MOP735) increased by 4.6%, 2.3% and 0.3% respectively.
After discounting the effect of inflation, the wage index of construction workers (86.2) for the fourth quarter of 2019 dropped by 4.0% quarter-to-quarter in real terms, with that of local construction workers (91.3) decreasing by 3.0%. For the whole year of 2019, the average wage index of construction workers (91.9) fell by 7.5% year-on-year in real terms, and that of local construction workers (94.9) dipped by 2.6%.
As regards construction materials, the average price of concrete (MOP990 per cubic metre) in the fourth quarter of 2019 increased by 1.9% quarter-to-quarter, while that of spiral & round reinforcing steel bars (MOP4,999 per tonne) decreased by 2.2%. The price index of construction materials for residential buildings in the fourth quarter edged up by 0.4% quarter-to-quarter to 110.7, with the price indices of sand and aggregate growing by 12.7% and 6.0% respectively; meanwhile, the price index of steel dropped by 2.1%. For the whole year of 2019, the price index of construction materials for residential buildings (110.0) went up by 2.5% year-on-year.