The Corona virus outbreak and the economic situation in Lebanon have had wide ranging implications on construction companies at the time when the real estate sector was already struggling.
According to the data from the Orders Engineering in Beirut and Tripoli, the total construction permits witnessed a year-on-year (YOY) drop of 37.08% to reach 4,371 permits by July 2020. Notably, the Construction Area Authorized by Permits (CAP) also slumped by an annual 57.82% to 1.7M square meters (sqm). This shows that several measures must be taken in order to alleviate some of the negative implications that businesses in the construction industry are experiencing.
Compared to the same period last year, construction activity observed a notable slowdown. Across the governorates, Mount Lebanon (39.67% of the total permits) accounted for 1,734 permits compared to 2,414 by July 2019. Followed by the South, (26.95% of the total permits), the respective number of permits fell to 1,178 permits from 1,435. In Nabatieh, (16.38% of the total permits), permits accounted for 716 compared to 896 permits by July 2019. In Bekaa and Beirut, 378 and 186 construction permits were issued by July 2020, down from 677 and 465 permits respectively in the same period last year.
Number of Construction Permits by July
Source: Orders of Engineers in Beirut & Tripoli