site.btaResidential Building Permits in Bulgaria Up 26.6% in Q4 2025

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the municipal authorities issued building permits for the construction of 2,425 residential buildings with 15,642 dwellings and 1,797,318 sq. m gross building area, 14 administrative buildings/offices with 13,516 sq. m gross building area and 1,307 other buildings with 769,509 sq. m gross building area, the National Statistical Institute reported on Tuesday.

Compared to the previous quarter, the issued building permits for residential buildings increased by 5.8%, their dwellings - by 15.5%, and the gross building area - by 21.8%. Building permits issued for administrative buildings have shown a decrease by 12.5% and their gross building area - by 8.3%. The issued building permits for other buildings went up by 2.8% and their gross building area - by 12.5%.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, the issued building permits for new residential buildings increased by 26.6%, their dwellings - by 58.6%, and the gross building area - by 62.9%. The issued building permits for administrative buildings and their gross building area went down by 6.7% and 61.3%, respectively. The issued building permits for other buildings grew by 10.3% and their gross building area - by 22.5%.

The highest number of building permits for new residential buildings was issued in the following districts: Plovdiv - 465, Sofia (stolitsa) - 299, Sofia - 267, Varna - 192, and Burgas - 166. Most dwellings are to be built in the districts: Plovdiv – 4,452, Sofia (stolitsa) - 3 864, Varna – 2,414, Burgas – 1,322, and Blagoevgrad - 845 (Annex, Table 1).

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the construction of 1,783 residential buildings with 9,177 dwellings and 1, 163, 332 sq. m gross building area, 6 administrative buildings/offices with 2, 999 sq. m gross building area and 650 other buildings with 480, 067 sq. m gross building area began.

Compared to the previous quarter, the started residential buildings fell by 0.8%, but their dwellings increased by 42.4% and the gross building area - by 32.1%. The started administrative buildings and their gross building area registered a drop of 33.3% and 58.8%, respectively. The started other buildings were fewer by 0.6%, but with 14.8% larger gross building area.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, the number of started new residential buildings increased by 15.9%, their dwellings - by 6.7%, and the gross building area - by 21.6%. The number of started administrative buildings decreased by 25.0% and their gross building area - by 50.9%. The construction of 8.3% more other buildings has started with 28.5% larger gross building area.

The construction of the highest number of new buildings was started in the following districts: Plovdiv - 402 residential buildings and 90 other buildings; Sofia (capital) - 194 residential buildings and 18 other buildings; Sofia - 176 residential buildings and 39 other buildings.