AMMAN — The total area of licensed buildings in Jordan reached 5.84 million square metres during the first seven months of 2026, up 4.7 per cent from 5.58 million square metres during the same period of 2025, according to the Department of Statistics (DoS).

 

A total of 14,361 building permits were issued during the seven-month period, up 1.7 per cent from 14,124 permits in the corresponding period of 2025, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

 

Residential licensed areas rose by 10.7 per cent to 4.77 million square metres, compared with 4.31 million square metres in 2025, accounting for 81.6 per cent of the total.

 

Meanwhile, non-residential licensed areas fell by 15.7 per cent to 1.07 million square metres from 1.27 million square metres, accounting for 18.4 per cent of the total.

 

Licensed building areas increased in every month of 2026 except May.

 

The Central Region maintained the largest share of licensed building areas at 73 per cent, unchanged from 2025.

 

The Northern Region’s share rose by 1.9 percentage points to 21 per cent, while the Southern Region’s share declined by the same margin to 6 per cent.

 

At the governorate level, Amman recorded the highest per capita residential licensed area at 0.573 square metres per person, accounting for 15.2 per cent of the total. Zarqa recorded the lowest at 0.095 square metres per person, accounting for 2.5 per cent.

 

Licensed areas for new buildings and additions to existing structures accounted for 58.4 per cent of the total, at 3.4 million square metres, compared with 3.5 million square metres in 2025, a 2.9 per cent decline.

 

Existing buildings licensed during the data collection period accounted for the remaining 41.6 per cent.

 

The DoS monthly census monitors building permits and their uses across the Kingdom’s governorates and provides indicators on construction activity for decision-makers.

 

The department noted that building permits are a reliable indicator of actual construction activity compared with preliminary engineering design contracts.