site.btaBuilding Permits for New Residential Buildings Up by 19% in Fourth Quarter of 2023, Y/Y

The building permits for new residential buildings increased by 19%, their dwellings by 64.5% and their gross building area by 66.2% in the fourth quarter of 2023, year-on-year, the National Statistical Office said on Friday. As compared to the fourth quarter of 2022, the issued building permits for administrative buildings and other buildings show an increase of 22.2% and 6.6%, respectively. The gross building area of administrative buildings grew more than three times, and that of other buildings by 64.7%. 

In the fourth quarter of 2023, the municipal authorities in Bulgaria issued building permits for 2,275 residential buildings with 16,788 dwellings, 22 administrative buildings/offices, and 1,261 other buildings. By comparison, in the fourth quarter of 2022, building permits were issued for 1,911 residential buildings with 10,203 dwellings, 18 administrative buildings/offices, and 1,183 other buildings. 

Тhe issued building permits for residential buildings increased by 8%, their dwellings by 71.2%, and the gross building area by 65.5% in the fourth quarter of 2023, quarter-on-quarter. Construction permits for administrative buildings went down by 12%, and their gross building area increased by 9.3%. The building permits for other buildings went up by 0.6%, and their gross building area by 10.8%. In the third quarter of 2023, building permits were issued for 2,107 residential buildings with 9,805 dwellings, 25 administrative buildings/offices, and 1,253 other buildings.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, the largest number of building permits for new residential buildings were issued in the regions of Sofia (435), Plovdiv (393), Burgas (217), Sofia (186), and Varna (168). The highest number of buildings whose construction is expected to begin is in the regions of Sofia (7,559), Plovdiv (2,702), Varna (1,534), Burgas (1,345), and Kardzhali (786).