View of Beirut. (Credit: PHB).
BEIRUT — The number of new construction permits dropped by 11 percent in 2024, according to figures issued by the Orders of Engineers and Architects of Beirut and Tripoli, and compiled by Byblos Bank’s Lebanon This Week report.
The two unions issued 11,256 new permits in 2024, compared to 12,593 the previous year, or a decrease of 10.6 percent year-on-year. In December 2024 alone, 849 permits were issued, an increase of 32.4 percent compared to the 641 permits in November but a decline of 17.3 percent compared to 1,026 in December 2023.
At the regional level, Mount Lebanon topped the list with 33.7 percent of the newly issued permits for that year, followed by the North with 20 percent, the South with 18 percent, the Bekaa region (11 percent), Nabatieh (10.7 percent) and Beirut (3.6 percent). The remaining 2.8 percent were issued for areas located outside Northern Lebanon. The North saw a rise of 31.8 percent in 2024, followed by the regions located outside of northern Lebanon, with 27 percent.
However, the number of permits dropped by a staggering 47.3 percent in Nabatieh last year, followed by the South (-34 percent) – both regions were pounded heavily by Israeli strikes during the year-long war with Hezbollah.
As to the surface area of new construction permits, it reached 6.21 million square meters (sqm) last year, an increase of 13.8 percent compared to 5.45 million sqm in 2023. Mount Lebanon alone accounts for 31.4 percent of the total surface area receiving permits, or 1.95 million sqm, while the North accounts for 1.38 million sqm (7.5 percent) and Beirut with 201,865 sqm (3.2 percent). The remainder – or 305,280 sqm (4.9 percent) – represents permits allocated to regions outside northern Lebanon.
