MANILA — Construction activity in the country rose 3.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 on the back of higher building permits approved from non-residential construction and additions to existing structures, latest reports from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show.
Approved building permits reached 33,445 in October to December from the 32,282 constructions recorded during the same quarter in 2016.
Residential building constructions comprised the bulk, or 70.84 percent of total approved building permits during the quarter, but the number declined by 4.3 percent to 23,693 from 24,752.
Non-residential constructions posted a 23.2-percent increase to 4,903 projects from 3,981 projects recorded in the same period in 2016.
The PSA attributed the growth to the increase in agricultural buildings, commercial buildings, other non-residential types of constructions, industrial buildings, and institutional building.
Additions to existing structures also rose by 30.1 percent to 1,149 in the fourth quarter of 2017 from 888 the previous year.
Likewise, the combined number of alterations and repairs of existing structures increased by 38.8 percent to 3,700 from 2,666.
In terms of the number of constructions, the top five regions comprised 56.5 percent of the total, led by CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), Central Luzon, Central Visayas, National Capital Region, and Davao Region.
Cavite, Batangas, and Cebu led the list of top 10 provinces in terms of the number of construction projects, accounting for 44.3 percent of the total. (Leslie Gatpolintan/PNA)
