The current economic slowdown has negatively weighed on the construction sector during 2018. According to the Orders of Engineers in Beirut and Tripoli, the number of construction permits slumped by 16.37% year-on-year (y-o-y) to stand at 13,801 permits by the end of 2018. The Construction Area Authorized by Permits (CAP) also fell by an annual 23.79% to 9M square meters (sqm), indicating investors’ growing interest in smaller construction areas for their projects.
In a regional breakdown, Mount Lebanon grasped the largest share of permits issued (37.69% of total), with 5,202 construction permits issued by December 2018, down by an annual 10.56%.
In South Lebanon (grasping 19.88% % of total), construction permits also shrunk 6.89% over the same period to settle at 2,743.
The North ranked 3rd in the total construction permits with a stake of 14.84% of the total, equivalent to 2,048 permits by the end of 2018, compared to 3,313 during the previous year.
In Nabatiyeh (constituting 13.28% of total issued permits), 1,833 permits were issued by Q4 2018, also down by 15.49% compared to the same period in 2017.
Following the same trend, in the Bekaa & Beirut (9.35% and 4.96% of total), the number of construction permits contracted by an annual 14.17% and 9.27% to reach 1,290 and 685 permits respectively.
Number of Construction Permits by December
Source: Orders of Engineers in Beirut and the North