In terms of licensing purposes, the licensed areas for residential purposes amounted to about 4.77 million m2 during the first seven months of 2026 compared to 4.31 million m2 during the same period in 2025, an increase of 10.7%,
The area of buildings licensed for non-residential purposes was 1.07 million m2, compared to 1.27 million m2 during the same period in 2025, a decrease of 15.7%. The area of buildings licensed for residential purposes accounted for 81.6% of the total licensed areas and 18.4% for non-residential purposes. The licensed areas were higher in every month of 2026 except for May.
At the regional level, the Central region maintained the lead by accounting for 73% of the total licensed building area in the Kingdom, with no change in its relative share compared to the same period in 2025. In contrast, the Northern region accounted for 21% with an increase of 1.9 percentage points, and the Southern region accounted for 6% with a decrease of 1.9 points compared to the same period in 2025.
As for the proportional distribution of licensed areas for residential purposes according to governorates and population, the Capital Governorate recorded the highest percentage of 15.2%, with an area of 0.573 m2 per person, while the Zarqa Governorate recorded the lowest percentage of individual share for new licensed areas, which amounted to 2.5%, with an area of 0.095 m2 per person.
The licensed area for new buildings and additions to existing buildings accounted for 58.4% of the total licensed building area during the first seven months of 2026, while the licensed area for existing buildings accounted for 41.6%. An existing building is one that has been built for years without a license and the license was issued during the month in which the data was collected, while an addition to an existing building is the issuance of a license to build a new addition to an existing and licensed building. The total area of licensed buildings for new buildings and additions to existing buildings amounted to about 3.4 million m2, compared to about 3.5 million m2 during the same period in 2025, a decrease of 2.9%.
