Brazil construction confidence falls 1.4 points in September

The Construction Confidence Index (ICST) from FGV Ibre dropped 1.4 points in September 2026 to 90.5 points. On a three-month moving average basis, the index declined 0.4 point to 91.6 points. The result leaves the indicator 2.0 points below its September 2025 level.

Ana Maria Castelo, construction project coordinator at FGV Ibre, noted that the September data reinforces a downward trend in sector confidence seen in recent months, reflecting an environment of caution and moderate pessimism.

Both subindexes contributed to the monthly decline. The Current Situation Index fell 1.0 point to 90.7 points, driven by current business conditions at 89.3 points (down 1.3 points) and order backlogs at 92.2 points (down 0.8 point, the lowest since December 2025). The Expectations Index fell 1.6 points to 90.5 points, as expected demand dropped 3.8 points to 90.1 points (the lowest since May 2021), while business trends rose 0.5 point to 90.8 points.

The installed capacity utilization rate for the construction sector fell 0.7 percentage point to 78.1%. The labor utilization rate declined 0.5 percentage point to 79.8%, and the machinery and equipment utilization rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 72.8%.