Khaberni - The General Statistics Department issued its monthly report on construction activity and building permits in the kingdom, where the total area of licensed buildings during the first eight months of 2025 reached 6.44 million m2, compared to 5.48 million m2 for the same period in 2024, an increase of 17.5%.
The total number of building permits issued in the kingdom also reached 16,276 licenses during the first eight months of 2025, compared to 14,948 licenses during the same period of 2024, with a growth rate of 9%.
On a monthly basis, the licensed areas increased from 809,000 m2 in July 2025 to 852,000 m2 in August 2025, with a monthly growth rate of 5.3%.
Regarding licensing purposes, the General Statistics Department survey indicated that the areas licensed for residential purposes amounted to about 5.0 million m2, compared to 4.4 million m2, during the same period from 2024, an increase of 13.6%, while the area of buildings licensed for non-residential purposes was about 1.45 million m2, compared to about 1.08 million m2 during the same period from 2024, an increase of 34.3%.
Accordingly, the area of buildings licensed for residential purposes constituted 77.5% of the total licensed building area, and 22.5% for non-residential purposes.
On a regional level, the central region accounted for 71.1% of the total licensed building area in the kingdom, an increase of 4.1%, while the northern region accounted for 20.5%, with a decrease of (8.1%), and the southern region 8.4%, with a decrease of (10.6%).
As for the relative distribution of licensed residential areas according to the population in the governorates, the capital governorate recorded the highest percentage at 12.8%, with an area of 0.560 m2 per individual, while the Mafraq governorate recorded the lowest percentage of the relative distribution of the individual share of new licensed residential areas, at 4.4%, with an area of 0.191 m2 per individual during the first eight months of 2025.
The area licensed for new buildings and additions to existing buildings constituted 62.3% of the total licensed building area during the first eight months of 2025, while the area licensed for existing buildings constituted 37.7%.
The total area of buildings licensed for new buildings and additions to existing buildings was about 4 million m2, compared to about 3.5 million m2, during the same period from 2024, with an increase of 14.3%.
The General Statistics Department provides through the monthly census of building permits data on the number of building permits, the area of licensed buildings, and types of building uses in the kingdom by governorate, aiming to provide planners, policymakers, and decision-makers with indicators about an important part of the construction sector, while government spending on building projects, roads, infrastructure, and others forms the other complementary part of this sector and is covered through other surveys, except for government projects that are licensed by licensing granting entities which are included in this census.
