Licensed building area in Jordan decreases by 17.3% in Q1 2024

AMMAN — The Department of Statistics (DoS) reported on Wednesday that the area of licensed buildings in the Kingdom witnessed a “significant” decline of 17.3 per cent during the first quarter of 2024, dropping from 2.262 million square metres in the same period of 2023 to 1.87 million square metres.

The total number of building licenses issued in the country during the first three months of the year also experienced a decrease of 16.4 per cent, totalling 5,081 licenses compared to 6,075 licenses issued in the corresponding period of 2023.

The area allocated for housing construction totalled 1.542 million square metres in the January-March period of 2024, marking a decrease of 21.7 per cent compared with 1.970 million square metres recorded in the same period last year, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

DoS noted that the total area of buildings licensed for non-residential purposes witnessed an increase of 12.3 per cent, rising from around 292,000 square metres in the first quarter of 2023 to 328,000 square metres in the corresponding period of 2024.

Housing construction accounted for the majority of licensed buildings, comprising 82.5 per cent of the total licensed area, according to the department’s data. 

The central region accounted for the largest portion of the licensed building area at 67.6 per cent, followed by the north at 22.8 per cent and the south at 9.6 per cent.

Data showed that in March, the number of building permits issued totalled 1,629, while the area of licensed buildings reached 668,000 square metres,  spotting a decrease of 12.8 per cent compared with March 2023, when the area of licensed buildings stood at 766,000 square metres.