Ammon News - Licensed buildings in Jordan have seen an increase in total area from the beginning of this year to the end of July, according to the Department of Statistics (DoS) monthly report released on Tuesday,

The increase is recorded at approximately 5.26 million square meters, a 13.8 percent rise from the 4.62 million square meters observed during the same period last year.

The number of building permits issued this year also rose to 13,679 in the first seven months, compared to 13,505 permits issued during the same period last year, a 1.3 percent increase.

Of the licensed buildings, 84.3 percent or about 4.43 million square meters were licensed for residential purposes, a 15.1 percent increase from the 3.85 million square meters recorded during the same period last year. Non-residential purposes comprised 15.7 percent or about 823,000 square meters, a 7 percent increase from last year's 769,000 square meters.

The Central Region has the highest percentage of licensed building area at 67.3 percent, a 2.7 percent increase. The North Region's share is at 24.1 percent, a 0.4 percent increase, while the South Region's share decreased by 9.5 percent to 8.6 percent.

Petra