In the 1st quarter of 2020, there were 5.8 thousand licensed buildings which corresponded to a 6.7% decrease in comparison with the same period of the previous year (+1.8% in the 4th quarter 2019). Building permits for new constructions decreased by 3.8% while rehabilitation permits declined by 13.9% (+3.6% and -1.5% respectively, in the 4th quarter of 2019). Completed buildings increased by 15.8% (+17.6% in the 4th quarter of 2019) with a total of 4.3 thousand buildings.
When compared to the previous quarter, the number of building permits increased by 1.0% (+0.9% in the 4th quarter 2019), and the number of completed buildings decreased by 1.8% (+7.3% in the 4th quarter 2019).
In a monthly analysis and regarding the availability of April data, building permits have been recording a downward trend since January 2020, when compared to the same month of the previous year (-0.9%). This decline was emphasized in March (-17.2%) and registered its lowest value in April (-29.8%).

Despite the constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Statistics Portugal will try to maintain its production and dissemination calendar, although some disturbances associated with the pandemic might occur in the collection of primary information. For this reason, we ask for the best collaboration by firms, households, and public entities in answering the requests of Statistics Portugal to obtain information by using the Internet and the telephone as alternative means to face-to-face contacts. The quality of official statistics depends crucially on this collaboration that Statistics Portugal is grateful for in advance.