Hong Kong is the most expensive city in Asia for construction

Find out why it remains an expensive city to build in.

The latest International Construction Costs Index published today by Arcadis revealed that Singapore is the most expensive city for construction in Asia.

Hong Kong markets are now stabilising at peak activity level. The on-going and upcoming mega public infrastructure projects, such as the Zhuhai-Macau bridge link and the large-scale housing program that totals 480,000 units over 10 years, are expected to sustain Hong Kong’s construction industry workload at its current level. However, construction costs in Hong Kong have continued to rise until the end of 2016, mainly due to increases in labour costs.

Country head for Hong Kong and Macau Francis Au said the rise of labour costs in the construction industry is mainly caused by the ageing workforce and labour force shortages.

"This issue is challenging to solve because solutions based on migrant labour are not acceptable to the local population. In order to stabilise the rise in construction costs, it is essential for the government and the construction industry to look into investing in initiatives and solutions that could increase industry productivity,” he said.

Check out the rankings below: