19.10.2022
According to data published by Eurostat, the EU statistics agency, the issuance of building permits in the European Union increased by 15% in 2021 compared to 2020.
Trends in the issuance of building permits are measured by Eurostat in terms of usable area in square metres. An increase of 15% in the EU corresponds to a total of 52 million square meters of buildings.
It is noted that in 2020, at the height of the pandemic in the EU, construction decreased by 8% compared to 2019.
In Cyprus, in terms of usable area, 2.3 million square meters of building permits were issued in 2021, equivalent to a 4.5% increase from 2.2 million square meters in 2020. In 2020, there was a decrease of 15% compared to 2019 (2.6 million sq. m.).
Building permits are also measured in housing units regardless of size. In terms of the number of dwellings, permits in the EU increased by 16% in 2021 (another 269 thousand dwellings), while in 2020 they decreased by 5%.
According to the same figures, the number of building permits increased by an average of 6% each year between 2015 and 2019. The pandemic interrupted this growth, but losses in 2020 were offset by growth in 2021, according to Eurostat.
Although the number of building permits (in terms of usable area) increased in all Member States except Estonia (where a decrease of 5% was recorded), significant differences were recorded between Member States.
The largest growth in 2021 was recorded in Spain (up 62%), Greece (54%) and Malta (42%). On the other hand, growth was much smaller in Denmark (up 1%), Germany (2%) and Austria (3%).
