If there is one theme running through our 2026 Global Annual Report, it is this: Global tender price inflation is moderating. Project viability is not.
That is the central finding of Rider Levett Bucknall’s Global Annual Report 2026. Forecasts for 2026 have eased across half of global regions, with further downward revisions anticipated in 2027. Yet easing escalation does not automatically restore margin. In an environment shaped by global market interdependence and geopolitical uncertainty, price moderation alone does not resolve delivery risk.
The focus has shifted.
Productivity is now the decisive lever.
Productivity: The defining constraint
With economic growth static and fragile in many regions, productivity has become pivotal to unlocking viable delivery.
Digital tools, data and AI are expected to contribute to performance improvements. However, technology alone will not solve viability pressures. Gains are also anticipated from Modern Methods of Construction, Design for Manufacture and Assembly, and more collaborative procurement models such as alliancing.
Real progress requires alignment between technology, process and people.
As Paul Beeston, Global Research Committee member at RLB, observes:
If there is one key takeout from RLB’s Global Annual Report this year, it is that our industry is being asked to deliver more, with less and with less margin of error.
Even projects operating within a single market remain exposed to international pricing, risk and procurement forces. Viability demands disciplined commercial strategy, not optimism alone.
Global cost relativity and regional intensity
RLB’s Construction Cost Relativity Index highlights continued disparity between global markets.
The United States remains the highest-cost region, while London continues to rank significantly above other UK regions. Across Oceania, markets are operating at sustained levels of intensity, particularly in infrastructure and data centre development.
Oliver Nichols, Oceania Director Research and Development at RLB, comments:
While cost escalation has moderated globally, across Oceania we are seeing construction markets operate at sustained levels of intensity.
In Australia, pricing remains structurally elevated as the construction market remains overheated, with labour constraints, productivity challenges and supply chain risk continuing to impact cost and delivery certainty.
In New Zealand, conditions are softer and the market is showing early, residential-led signs of recovery, with comparatively subdued cost growth. However, as activity begins to lift, productivity and capacity constraints will remain critical factors to manage.
These regional dynamics reinforce a broader reality: moderating escalation does not eliminate structural delivery pressures.
Progress requires discipline
Easing cost growth does not guarantee certainty.
Viability now hinges on:
- Procurement strategy
- Productivity reform
- Skills investment
- Technology integration
- Commercial foresight
RLB’s Global Annual Report 2026 provides the data, benchmarking and forward forecasts required to navigate 2026 and beyond with confidence.
Explore the RLB Global Annual Report 2026 here.
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