AMMAN — The total number of building permits across the Kingdom reached 2,296 in January 2026, up from 1,920 in the same month of 2025, marking an increase of 19.6 per cent, according to the Department of Statistics’ (DoS) monthly report issued on Saturday. 

 

The report mentioned that the construction activity and building permits in the Kingdom for January showed that the total licensed building area stood at 741,000 square metres, compared with 839,000 square metres in the corresponding month of 2025, a decline of 11.7 per cent, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

 

In terms of licensing purposes, the licensed area for residential use reached around 660,000 square metres, up from nearly 579,000 square metres in the same period of 2025, an increase of 14 per cent.

 

By contrast, the licensed area for non-residential use fell sharply to around 81,000 square metres, compared with nearly 260,000 square metres a year earlier, a drop of 69 per cent.

 

Residential buildings accounted for 89 per cent of the total licensed area, while 11 per cent was allocated to non-residential purposes.

 

The Kingdom’s central region accounted for 63.5 per cent of the total licensed building area during the month, despite a 6.2 per cent decline compared with January 2025.

 

The northern region accounted for 30.1 per cent, recording a notable increase of 54.4 per cent, while the Southern Region made up 6.4 per cent, down 50 per cent from the same period last year.

 

At the governorate level, Jerash recorded the highest share of licensed residential area at 13.1 per cent, equivalent to 0.079 square metres per capita.

 

Madaba, meanwhile, recorded the lowest per capita share of newly licensed residential space at 3.1 per cent, or 0.019 square metres per capita.

 

The report also showed that the licensed area for new buildings and additions to existing buildings accounted for 47.8 per cent of the total licensed building area in January, while existing buildings made up 52.2 per cent.

 

The total licensed area for new buildings and additions stood at around 354,000 square metres, down from around 546,000 square metres in the same period of 2025, representing a decline of 35.2 per cent, Petra reported.