Building permits bounce back in 2021

In 2021, building permits in terms of useful floor area went up by 15% in the EU according to data released by Eurostat, the statistic service of the European Union.

Eurostat measures trends in building permits in terms of useful floor area, measured in millions of square metres (mio m²). In absolute terms, the 15% increase recorded in the EU corresponds to an increase of 52 mio m².

This growth in the EU followed a decline of 8% in 2020, the peak year of the COVID-19 crisis.

In Cyprus, in terms of useful floor area, building permits in 2021 amounted to 2.3 mio m², which was a 4.5% increase compared to 2.2 mio m² in 2020. In 2020 building permits had increased by 15% compared to 2019 (when data showed permits for 2.6 mio m² in useful floor area).

Building permits are also measured in numbers of dwellings irrespective of the size of the building. In terms of numbers of dwellings, permits in the EU went up by 16% (269,000 dwellings), after a dip of 5% in 2020.

Between 2015 and 2019, the number of permits went up by 6% on average per year. The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted these developments, but with the increase in 2021, the losses of 2020 were compensated.

In 2021, building permits (in terms of useful floor area) increased in all EU countries with the exception of Estonia (5% decrease). However, there were sizeable differences in the increases across Member States.

Spain (62% increase), Greece (54%) and Malta (42%) recorded the highest increases in the number of permits issued in terms of useful floor area. On the other hand, rather low increases were recorded in Denmark (1% increase), Germany (2%) and Austria (3%).