Building permits issued and construction started - Second quarter of 2026

In the second quarter of 2026, the municipal authorities issued building permits for the construction of 2 216 residential buildings with 11 499 dwellings and 1 351 492 sq. m gross building area, 15 administrative buildings/offices with 10 451 sq. m gross building area and 1 367 other buildings with 820 066 sq. m gross building area.

Compared to the previous quarter, the issued building permits for residential buildings decreased by 3.7%, their dwellings - by 15.2%, and the gross building area - by 22.1%. The issued building permits for administrative buildings and their gross building area went up by 15.4% and by 54.6%, respectively. The issued building permits for other buildings grew by 12.2% and their gross building area - by 28.1%.

Compared to the second quarter of 2025, the issued building permits for new residential buildings increased by 8.2%, their dwellings - by 14.0%, and the gross building area - by 3.6%. The number of issued building permits of administrative buildings remains unchanged, but their gross building area declined by 56.0%. The issued building permits for other buildings grew by 13.1% and their gross building area - by 42.2%.

The highest number of building permits for new residential buildings was issued in the following districts: Plovdiv - 374, Sofia (stolitsa) - 268, Sofia - 243, Varna - 202 and Burgas - 161. Most dwellings are expected to be built in the following districts: Sofia (stolitsa) - 2 878, Plovdiv - 1 941, Burgas - 1 660, Varna - 1 316, and Pernik - 489 (Annex, Table 1).

In the second quarter of 2026, the construction of 1 774 residential buildings with 8 913 dwellings and 1 047 174 sq. m gross building area, 16 administrative buildings/offices with 9 258 sq. m gross building area and 585 other buildings with 412 147 sq. m gross building area began.

Compared to the previous quarter, the started residential buildings increased by 7.6%, but their dwellings fell by 12.6% and the gross building area - by 10.3%. The started administrative buildings and their gross building area registered an increase of 45.5% and 4.2%, respectively. The construction of 1.5% fewer other buildings started, but with a gross building area that was 15.9% larger. 

Compared to the second quarter of 2025, the number of started new residential buildings increased by 8.2%, their dwellings - by 10.5%, and the gross building area - by 8.7%.  The number of started administrative buildings decreased by 30.4% and their gross building area - by 53.2%. The construction of 9.2% fewer other buildings was started, with a 12.5% larger gross building area.

The construction of the highest number of new buildings was started in the following districts: Plovdiv - 333 residential buildings, 4 administrative buildings and 95 other buildings; Sofia - 222 residential buildings and 46 other buildings; Sofia (stolitsa) - 202 residential buildings and 8 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