Khaberni - The Department of Statistics issued its monthly report on construction activity and building permits in the Kingdom, where the total of licensed building spaces reached 904,000 m2 during April of this year, compared with 860,000 m2 for the same period last year, an increase of 5.1%.
The total building areas licensed during the first third of 2026 amounted to 3.177 million m2, compared with 3.032 million m2 for the same period of 2025, an increase of 4.8%. The total number of building permits issued in the kingdom during the first third of 2026 was 8,317, compared with 7,253 permits during the same period of 2025, an increase of 14.7%.
Regarding the purposes of licensing, the licensed areas for residential purposes reached about 2.700 million m2 during the first third of 2026, compared with 2.243 million m2 during the same period last year, an increase of 20.4%, while the area of buildings licensed for non-residential purposes was 477,000 m2, compared with 789,000 m2 during the same period last year, a decrease of 39.5%.
The licensed area for residential purposes constituted 85% of the total licensed building space and 15% for non-residential purposes.
At the regional level, the Central region accounted for 71.7% of the total licensed building space in the kingdom during the first third of 2026, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points from the same period of 2025, while the Northern region accounted for 22.2%, an increase of 2.6 percentage points, and the Southern region 6.1%, a decrease of 2.3 percentage points from the same period of 2025.
As for the relative distribution of licensed residential areas by governorates and population, the capital governorate recorded the highest percentage, reaching 15.2%, and a space of 0.324 m2 per person, while Zarqa governorate recorded the lowest share, at 2.7%, and a space of 0.057 m2 per person.
The licensed area for new buildings and additions to existing buildings constituted 53.7% of the total licensed building space during the first third of 2026, while the licensed area for existing buildings accounted for 46.3%. An existing building is one constructed years ago without a license and the license was issued during the month in which the data was collected, while an addition to an existing building is the issuance of a permit to construct a new addition to an existing and licensed building.
The total licensed building space for new buildings and additions to existing buildings was about 1.705 million m2, compared with about 1.967 million m2 during the same period of 2025, a decrease of 13.3%.
The Department of Statistics provides through the monthly building permit survey, data on the number of building permits, the area of licensed buildings, and types of building uses in the Kingdom by governorate, aimed to supply 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 another complementary part of this sector and is covered through other surveys, except for government projects that are licensed by the licensing authorities, which are included in this survey.
Building permit indicators reflect the actual reality of construction activity because the license likely implies the actual start of construction, whereas design contracts and engineering plans relied upon by other entities represent future plans for construction activity and a stage in the licensing process that might not be completed.
