Cyprus recorded a sharp increase in building permits during the first quarter of 2026, pointing to continued momentum in the country’s construction sector despite rising development costs.
Permits Jump On Robust Project Pipeline
According to the Statistical Service of Cyprus (Cystat), the number of building permits issued between January and March rose 44.1% year on year to 2,276, compared with 1,580 in the same period of 2025.
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March accounted for 776 permits with a combined value of €433.1 million and a total authorised floor area of 353,900 square metres. The permits cover the construction of 1,940 housing units.
Value, Floor Area And Housing Units All Advance
Growth extended across all key indicators during the first quarter.
The total value of permits increased by 41.6% year on year, while authorised floor area expanded by 40.2%. The number of approved housing units recorded the strongest increase, rising 58.4% compared with the first quarter of 2025.
Building permits are generally viewed as a leading indicator of construction activity, as they typically precede new development projects by several months.
Construction Activity Continues To Expand
The latest figures are broadly consistent with other recent indicators from Cyprus’ construction sector.
Earlier Cystat data showed that the Index of Production in Construction rose 0.7% year on year in the first quarter of 2026. At the same time, the Output Prices Index increased 3.0% from the previous quarter and 4.7% compared with a year earlier, highlighting continued cost pressures across the industry.
Housing Market Remains Supportive
The construction pipeline has also been supported by resilient demand in the residential property market.
According to Eurostat, house sales in Cyprus increased by 3.8% in 2025 after declining 1.1% in 2024. Rental prices also continued to rise during the first five months of 2026, while house prices increased 1.6% quarter on quarter in the first three months of the year.
Taken together, the latest data suggest that construction activity remains on an upward trajectory, although developers continue to face higher building costs alongside growing project volumes.
