The Statistical Service of Cyprus has summarized construction activity in 2025. The total area covered by all building permits issued from January to December reached 3,274,229 m2. This is 41% more than in 2024. The main driver of growth was residential buildings, whose area increased by 45.4%. Non-residential projects grew by 19.8%. Civil engineering works, however, recorded a phenomenal surge — almost doubling, up by 92.2%. Along with the total area, project values also increased: the total authorized amount reached €4.01 billion, which is 37.8% higher than a year earlier.
How Construction Was Distributed Across the Cities
The largest volume of construction is in Nicosia, with 1,101,300 m2, representing annual growth of 59.7%. Limassol follows closely behind with 1,088,200 m2 and an increase of 35%. Larnaca received permits for 611,500 m2 (+39.7%), while Paphos accounted for 323,600 m2 (+35.5%). The only region to record a slight decline was the free areas of Famagusta, with 149,600 m2, which is 0.1% less than in 2024. Compared with the pre-pandemic year of 2019, the total increase nationwide stands at 26.6%. The leaders over this longer period are Larnaca (+83.6%) and Nicosia (+76.3%). Limassol, however, surprisingly fell by 10.4% compared with 2019, despite its strong year-on-year growth. A decline compared with 2019 was also recorded in the free areas of Famagusta (-3.5%).
The Number of Apartments and Houses Has Risen Sharply
In 2025, permits were issued for the construction of 16,171 residential units — 42.7% more than the 11,329 units recorded in 2024. Detached houses increased by 39.8% to 3,943 units. Two-unit houses (duplexes) grew by 48.8% to 1,190. Apartment buildings showed the strongest performance, rising by 51.6% to 10,791 apartments. Mixed-use apartment buildings, however, with commercial premises on the ground floors, dropped sharply by 58.3%. In total, 8,159 building permits were issued in 2025, which is 19.5% more than the 6,827 issued a year earlier. In December 2025 alone, 819 permits were issued, covering a total area of 328,800 m2 and a value of €415.4 million.
What Developers and Investors Should Know
Since July 1, 2024, the authority to issue building permits has been transferred from municipalities to the District Local Government Organizations. All applications are now processed through the “Ippodamos” information system. This has accelerated procedures, which helps explain the record figures. By project category, the number of permits for residential buildings increased by 29.4%, for civil engineering works by 22.6%, and for land subdivision by 22.4%. At the same time, the number of permits for non-residential buildings fell by 20%, while permits for road construction dropped by 21.9%. The market is clearly shifting toward housing and large-scale infrastructure. For property buyers, this means more supply is likely to come onto the market over the next 1–2 years, which could help contain further price increases. For investors, this may be a good time to enter the market, especially in Larnaca and Nicosia, where permit issuance is growing the fastest.