According to the data from the Orders of Engineers in Beirut and Tripoli, the total construction permits witnessed a year-on-year (YOY) remarkable increase of 86.67% to reach 10,198 permits by August 2021. Notably, the Construction Area Authorized by Permits (CAP) soared by an annual 129.97% to 4,999,021 square meters (sqm), mainly reflecting the high interest of investors in investing in real tangible assets.
Compared to the same period last year, construction activity witnessed a prominent increase regionally. Across the governorates, Mount Lebanon, grasped 37.78% of the total permits, and accounted for 3,853 permits compared to 2,121 by August 2020. However, for the South, it constituted 28.81% of the total permits, its respective number of permits reached 2,938 permits comparing to 1,511 permits same period last year. In Nabatieh which holds 19.61% of the total permits, its share accounted for 2,000 compared to 939 permits by August 2021. In Bekaa, 923 construction permits were issued by August 2021 up from 490 in the same period last year, while in Beirut only 74 construction permits were issued down from 203 issued last year.
The migration from the city to the suburbs is obvious and may escalate more in the future. Lebanon is suffering from a severe financial crisis since October 2019, while Beirut is not necessary the best place to live in as the benefits of living in the city are shrinking due to the big shortage in electricity and the increase of price of oil, and higher living expenses.
Number of Construction Permits by August
