The Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat) on Friday announced a reduction of 1.9 per cent in the number of building permits issued during March 2025, when compared to the same month last year.

A total of 572 building permits were authorised in March 2025, down from 583 in March 2024.

The total value of these permits reached €361.5 million, while the total authorised construction area amounted to 296,900 square metres.

The report showed that these building permits provide for the construction of 1,480 dwelling units.

Looking at the first quarter of 2025, the period from January to March saw 1,580 building permits issued.

This represents a decrease of 15.8 per cent compared to 1,876 permits issued in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Despite the drop in permits, the total value of these permits increased by 21.7 per cent over the same period.

What is more, the total authorised construction area also grew by 15.6 per cent.

In addition, the number of dwelling units expected to be built recorded an increase of 16.7 per cent during the first quarter.

Since July 1, 2024, the authority for issuing building permits was transferred from the municipalities and district administration offices to the newly founded local government organisations (EOAs).

The licensing process is now carried out through the new integrated information system named Ippodamos.

In terms of scope and coverage, the statistical service said that the purpose of this system is to collect basic data on residential and non-residential buildings, as well as other construction activities, including civil engineering projects, division of plots, and road construction, broken down by district in both urban and rural areas.

For each project type, information is compiled regarding the number of permits authorised, the area and value of the project, and the number of dwelling units expected to be built.

The EU Classification of Types of Construction (CC) is used for categorising the various construction projects.

The data cover all building permits authorised, including permits for demolitions and permits being re-issued.

However, permit renewals and permits for the division of buildings are not included in the data.