Building permits issued and construction of new buildings have increased during the second quarter of 2024, after a 20% national drop at the start of 2024, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said. The number of dwellings and their total developed area continued to decrease in the second quarter, albeit at a slower pace.
In the second quarter of 2024, the municipal authorities issued building permits for the construction of 1,935 residential buildings with 10,271 dwellings and 1,191,503 sq. m gross building area (GBA), 16 administrative buildings/offices with 18,179 sq. m GBA and 1,173 other buildings with 445,041 sq. m GBA, the NSI report says.
As compared to the previous quarter, the issued building permits for residential buildings increased by 6.1%, while their dwellings decreased by 2.1% and GBA – by 1.0%. Building permits issued for administrative buildings have shown a decrease of 40.7% and their GBA – by 69.1%. Issued building permits for other buildings rose by 7.2%, but their GBA fell by 16.8%.
The highest number of building permits for new residential buildings was issued in the following regions: Plovdiv – 365, Sofia (capital) – 250, Varna – 180, Sofia – 177 and Burgas – 167.
The construction of the highest number of new buildings was started in the following regions: Plovdiv - 312 residential buildings, 3 administrative buildings and 86 other buildings; Sofia (capital) – 320 residential buildings, 4 administrative buildings and 35 other buildings; Sofia – 162 residential buildings and 27 other buildings; Varna – 156 residential buildings, 4 administrative buildings and 19 other buildings.
As compared to the second quarter of 2023, the issued building permits for new residential buildings decreased by 4.9%, their dwellings - by 15% and the GBA – by 13.8%. Permits were issued for 14.3% more administrative buildings, with a 25.2% larger GBA. The issued building permits for other buildings fell by 14.6%, as well as their GBA – by 29.6%.