Ammon News - The number of building licenses issued in the Kingdom rose by 3.2 percent in the first half of 2026, reaching 12,070 compared with 11,700 in the same period of 2025, the Department of Statistics (DoS) said Monday.

In its monthly report on construction activity and building licenses, the DoS said the total area of licensed buildings increased by 2 percent to 4.87 million square meters, compared with 4.77 million square meters during the corresponding period last year.

Licensed residential building area rose by 10 percent to 4.03 million square meters from 3.66 million square meters in the first half of 2025.

In contrast, licensed area for non-residential purposes fell by 24 percent to 846,000 square meters, compared with 1.11 million square meters a year earlier.

Residential construction accounted for 82.6 percent of the total licensed building area during the first six months of the year, while non-residential construction represented 17.4 percent.

Regionally, the Central Region accounted for 73 percent of the Kingdom's total licensed building area, an increase of 1.1 percentage points from the same period of 2025.

The Northern Region's share stood at 21 percent, up one percentage point, while the Southern Region accounted for 6 percent, down 2.1 percentage points from a year earlier.

At the governorate level, Amman recorded the highest per-capita share of newly licensed residential building area, at 15.7 percent and 0.490 square meters per person. Zarqa recorded the lowest, at 2.7 percent and 0.083 square meters per person.

New buildings and additions to existing structures accounted for 57.5 percent of the total licensed building area during the first half of 2026, while existing buildings accounted for the remaining 42.5 percent.

The total licensed area for new buildings and additions to existing structures declined by 7.6 percent to around 2.80 million square meters, compared with approximately 3.03 million square meters during the same period last year.

The DoS defines an existing building as a structure constructed in previous years without a license and subsequently licensed during the month in which the data were collected. An addition to an existing building refers to a license issued for new construction added to an existing licensed structure.