Construction activity declines affected by reduction in large projects

Building permits issued in Cyprus from January to September amounted to 5,101 marking a reduction of 1.82% year on year, with toral area and value of these permits dropping sharply due to reduced large projects.

According to data published by the Statistical Service of Cyprus (Cystat), the value of the permits issued in the nine months of 2020 amounted to €1.96 billion, marking a steep reductio of 28.6% compared with €2.75 billion in the respective period of 2019.
 
The value of large projects for which building permits were issued in the period of January – September declined to €1.18 billion compared with €1.97 billion in the corresponding period of 2019, while value of small projects amounted to €0.78 billion compared with €0.77 billion in the period of January – September 2019.
 
In the period of January – September, the area of the permits issued declined to 1.63 million square metres compared with 1.89 million in the respective period of 2019 marking an annual reduction of 13.9%.
 
According to Cystat building permits issued in September reached 690 marking in increase of 11% compared with September 2019, marking an annual increase for a second consecutive month.
 
However, the value of the permits issued, declined to €218 million, compared with €593 million, marking a sharp reduction amounting to 63%. Conversely the area of the permits issued in September 2020 dropped  by an annual 43% to 201.6 thousand square metres compared with 352.6 square metres in the respective period of 2019.