Construction activity slows down in April

MANILA, Philippines — Construction activity slowed in April as the number of approved building permits declined by 9.6 percent from the previous year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Preliminary data released by the PSA showed that the number of construction projects from approved building permits was down to 14,111 in April from 15,609 in the same month last year.

The value of these construction projects also declined by 8.1 percent to P41.08 billion from P44.71 billion.

The bulk or 65.8 percent of the approved building permits in April were for residential buildings.

In particular, there were 9,288 approved building permits for residential building projects in April, down by 8.8 percent from 10,184 in the same month last year.

The value of residential building projects, however, increased by 5.7 percent to P20.71 billion from P19.59 billion.

Likewise, the number of non-residential construction projects also dropped by 13.2 percent to 2,961 in April from 3,413 in the same a year ago.

Non-residential building projects in April were valued at P15.87 billion, 21.6 percent lower than the P20.23 billion construction value in the same month in 2024.

Permits for additions or projects involving increases in the height or area of an existing building dipped by 4.8 percent to 518 projects from 544.

The value of addition projects, meanwhile, went up by 3.6 percent to P853.44 million in April from P823.93 million in the same month a year ago.

Alterations and repair of existing structures slipped by 8.3 percent to 993 projects in April from the previous year’s 1,083.

In terms of value, alterations and repairs fell by 29.9 percent to P2.65 billion in April from P3.78 billion in the same month last year.

Other construction projects also dipped by 8.8 percent to 351 in April from 385 in the same month in 2024. The value of other construction projects surged to P1 billion from P288.49 million.