Approved construction permits down 7 percent in April

MANILA, Philippines — Construction projects based on approved building permits declined by seven percent in April from a year ago, but the value posted double-digit growth year-on-year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Data released by the PSA showed that the number of constructions from approved building permits reached 13,677 in April, down from 14,676 in the same month last year. 

The total floor area of constructions in April was recorded at 2.76 million square meters, 25 percent lower than the 3.67 million sqm floor area in the same period of 2025.

However, the value of construction projects in April rose by 11 percent to P47.42 billion from P42.58 billion in the same month last year.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said in an email that the decline in floor area is “largely due to higher interest rates, especially long-term tenors, since the war on Iran or Middle East that reduced the demand for loans or credit for both property developers for new construction projects supply and also from end-users to finance the purchase of property or real estate.”

He said that higher fuel prices triggered by the Middle East conflict, also pushed up costs of construction materials and other inputs and the value of various construction or property projects, leading to lower demand.

Of the approved building permits in April, 63 percent or 8,630 were for residential buildings, 11 percent lower than the previous year’s level of 9,643 residential constructions.

The value of these residential building projects declined by 10 percent to P19.28 billion in April from P21.35 billion in the same month a year ago.

Meanwhile, non-residential type of constructions accounted for 22 percent or 2,973 of the approved building permits in April. The figure dipped by three percent from 3,071 construction projects in the same month last year.

Non-residential construction projects amounted to P22.34 billion in April, 37 higher percent than the P16.36 billion value in the same month of 2025.

Additions, which involve increasing the height or area of an existing building, also went down by four percent to 501 in April from 523 in the same month a year ago.

These projects amounted to P1.21 billion in April, 41 percent higher than the P858.58 million value of addition projects in the same month last year.