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 66.18% to reach 11,827 permits by September 2021. Notably, the Construction Area Authorized by Permits (CAP) soared by an annual 100.38% to 5,732,317 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 39.20% of the total permits, and accounted for 4,546 permits compared to 2,710 by September 2020. However, for the South, it constituted 29% of the total permits, its respective number of permits reached 3.363 permits comparing to 2,016 permits same period last year. In Nabatieh which holds 20% of the total permits, its share accounted for 2,318 by September 2021. In Bekaa, 1,068 construction permits were issued by September 2021 up from 612 in the same period last year, while in Beirut only 206 construction permits were issued by September 2021.
Based on the above numbers, we can conclude that, what was known as the economic center of the Middle East, “Beirut” is suffering as the real estate project in the city has decreased significantly. The government should have a plan to revive the city and attract foreign investors by giving them some initiatives like tax exemptions and other facilities. Furthermore, foreign investors can now benefit from the devaluation of Lebanese lira and the low cost to make a profitable real estate investment in the city.
Number of Construction Permits by September 2021
