Building permits issued and construction started - Second quarter of 2025

In the second quarter of 2025, the municipal authorities issued building permits for the construction of 2 049 residential buildings with 10 089 dwellings and 1 305 022 sq. m gross building area, 15 administrative buildings/offices with 23 744 sq. m gross building area and 1 209 other buildings with 576 557 sq. m gross building area.

Compared to the previous quarter, the issued building permits for residential buildings decreased by 1.7%, their dwellings - by 4.6%, while the gross building area went up by 0.2%. Building permits issued for administrative buildings showed an increase by 25.0% and their gross building area increased more than five times. The issued building permits for other buildings rose by 11.9%, but their gross building area fell by 5.9%.

Compared to the second quarter of 2024, the issued building permits for new residential buildings increased by 5.9%, the gross building area - by 9.5%, while their dwellings decreased by 1.8%. Permits were issued for 6.3% fewer administrative buildings, with a 30.6% larger gross building area. The issued building permits for other buildings grew by 3.1% and their gross building area by 29.6%.

The highest number of building permits for new residential buildings was issued in the following districts: Plovdiv - 353, Sofia - 245, Sofia (stolitsa) - 216, Varna - 207 and Burgas - 162. Most dwellings are to be built in the districts: Sofia (stolitsa) - 2 531, Plovdiv - 1 994, Varna - 1 331, Burgas - 1 237, and Sofia - 544 (Annex, Table 1).

In the second quarter of 2025, the construction of 1 640 residential buildings with 8 064 dwellings and 963 046 sq. m gross building area, 23 administrative buildings/offices with 19 791 sq. m gross building area and 644 other buildings with 366 485 sq. m gross building area began.

Compared to the previous quarter, the started residential buildings increased by 14.6%, their dwellings - by 32.4%, and the gross building area - by 30.3%. The started administrative buildings and their gross building area registered a growth of 91.7% and 180.7%, respectively. The construction of 11.8% more other buildings begun, but with 36.2% less gross building area.

Compared to the second quarter of 2024, the number of started new residential buildings decreased by 3.7%, their dwellings - by 8.5%, and the gross building area - by 7.5%. The number of started administrative buildings went up by 64.3%, but their gross building area was with 7.2% fewer. The started other buildings fell by 3.0% and their gross building area - by 18.6%.

The construction of the highest number of new buildings was started in the following districts: Plovdiv - 243 residential buildings, 4 administrative buildings and 115 other buildings; Sofia (stolitsa) - 295 residential buildings, 11 administrative buildings and 17 other buildings; Sofia - 168 residential buildings, 3 administrative buildings and 46 other buildings; Varna - 177 residential buildings and 20 other buildings (Annex, Table 2).

Methodological notes

The quarterly statistical survey of permits issued for construction collects information about building permits issued by municipal authorities as well as for the started construction of new buildings according to their type and gross building area. This information may be used as an indicator of the future construction activity of enterprises in the country.

Types of buildings are classified according to the Classification of types of construction (CC) and are divided into:

• Residential - buildings for which the useful floor area is mostly used for permanent residential habitation.
• Non-residential - buildings for various purposes, including:

 - administrative - offices and buildings for administrative work of departments and other organizations and associations (representative buildings - banks, post offices, government department offices, conference and congress centres, low courts, municipalities);

 - other buildings - buildings used for different activities: production, trade, transport, education, culture, sports, agriculture, health, recreation and facilities for a short stay (hotels, motels, rest houses, huts and others).

Gross building area - a sum of all floors’ areas in external dimensions.

Annex

Table 1

Table 2