In 2022, Luxembourg experienced the largest decline in building permits across the European Union with a 28% reduction, contrasting with a general EU-wide decline of nearly 5%.

Building permits in the European Union have seen an almost 5% reduction in 2022, following a significant rebound of 15% in the previous year, which was primarily attributed to the post-COVID-19 recovery period.

This downturn comes despite a preceding average annual increase of nearly 6% from 2015 through 2019.

Building permit trends within the EU also track the number of permits issued according to the number of dwellings, irrespective of their size. Such an analysis revealed a parallel decline in 2022 with a decrease of approximately 4% equating to a shortfall of around 79,100 dwellings after a substantial uptick of 16% in 2021.

RTL

© Eurostat

Despite the reduction observed in 2022, the total number of permits remained above the pre-pandemic levels, in spite of the unprecedented disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A closer look at the 2022 data shows that building permits in terms of useful floor area increased in only nine of the EU countries.

Malta led the way with an impressive growth of 29%, closely followed by Spain with 28%, Croatia at 21%, Slovenia at 17%, Bulgaria with 12%, Italy with 8%, Hungary at 7%, Portugal at 3%, and France with a minimal growth of 2%.

However, the remaining EU countries experienced varied degrees of contraction in the number of building permits.

Of these, Luxembourg registered the most significant decline, with a reduction of 28%, representing the most substantial decrease amongst EU members. Romania reported the smallest decline of 1%.

Meanwhile, a new report has revealed that housing prices have continued to tumble across every region in the Grand Duchy.

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© Eurostat