According to the data from the Orders of Engineers in Beirut and Tripoli, the total construction permits witnessed a year-on-year (YOY) remarkable decrease of 43.02% to reach 7,067 permits by August 2023. Similarly, the Construction Area Authorized by Permits (CAP) plunged by an annual 54.14% to 2,869,932 square meters (sqm), mainly driven by public institution’s strike, decline of interests towards investing in real tangible assets and less overall income.
Construction activity witnessed a significant decrease regionally compared to the same period last year. Across the governorates, Mount Lebanon, grasped 36.47% of the total permits, and accounted for 2,577 permits by end of August 2023 compared to 4,930 previous years. However, for the South, it constituted 28.71% of the total permits, its respective number of permits reached 2,029 permits compared to 3,247 permits same period last year. In Nabatieh which holds 20.98% of the total permits, its share accounted for 1.483 by August 2023. In Bekaa, 611 construction permits were issued by August 2023 down from 1,122 in the same period last year, while in Beirut only 199 construction permits were issued by August 2023. The decrease is more notable given the lack of bank lending.
Surprisingly, it seems the impact of construction activity is delayed and takes effect after some time as the construction permits have been on the decline for the year of 2023 while the economic conditions in Lebanon have marginally improved.
Number of Construction Permits by August 2023
Source: Orders of Engineers in Beirut & Tripoli
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