New building permits drop 40% compared with last year

By JT - Apr 17,2019 - Last updated at Apr 17,2019

In this undated photo, construction workers can be seen carrying construction materials for a new building. According to a Department of Statistics’ monthly report, new building permits fell by 40.2 per cent during the first two months of 2019 (JT file photo)

AMMAN — New building permits fell by 40.2 per cent in the first two months of 2019 compared with the same months of last year, according to a Department of Statistics’ (DoS) monthly report.

There were 3,597 building permits issued by the end of February, compared with 6,016 during the same period in 2018.

Buildings licensed in the first two months of this year accounted for 1.124 million square metres, compared with 1.933 million square metres during the same period of 2018 — a drop of 41.9 per cent.

Residential buildings accounted for 859,000 square metres of the total licensed areas in January-February, compared with 1.552 million square metres during the same period of 2018, a 44.7 per cent decline.

Licences for non-residential buildings dropped to 265,000 square metres during 2019’s first two months, compared to 381,000 square metres licensed in January and February of 2018, according to DoS figures.

At the governorate level, Amman accounted for 46.3 per cent of all licensed buildings, followed by Zarqa with 15.1 per cent, Irbid with 13.6 per cent, Balqa at 6.3 per cent, Aqaba with 4.7 per cent and Jerash with 3.1 per cent, the DoS said.

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