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MANILA – Construction activities continued to rise in the first quarter of the year but at a slower pace, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Thursday.
The number of approved building permits from January to March increased by 1.8 percent to 37,270 from 36,621 approved construction permits in the same period last year.
These construction permits were equivalent to 7.7 million square meters of floor area with a total value of PHP86.78 billion.
However, the number of approved construction permits in the first quarter of the year was lower than the 39,513 approvals in the previous quarter.
Growth also slowed down from 9.2 percent in the October to December 2021 period.
The bulk of the construction activities in the first quarter of 2022 were residential types, with 26,546 approved permits and projects amounting to PHP45 billion.
This was followed by non-residential constructions with 6,145 approved permits valued at PHP35.4 billion.
“Addition, which refers to any new construction that increases the height or area of an existing building/structure, and alteration and repair of existing structures, had shares of 3 percent and 9.3 percent to the total number of constructions, respectively,” the PSA said.
A big chunk of the construction activities in the first three months of the year was recorded in Calabarzon with 9,725 approved building permits, amounting to PHP20.22 billion.
This was followed by the National Capital Region with a total construction value of PHP14.79 billion and Central Luzon with PHP10.26 billion. (PNA)
