In 2020, a year marked by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the building activity in Cyprus slumped after a five-year increase. The major causes for the decline in the construction industry are mainly the coronavirus outbreak & the cancellation of the Cyprus Naturalisation program. Specifically, building permits dropped slightly by 2.7%, from 7,218 in 2019 to 7,023 in 2020. This figure corresponds to 9,292 dwelling units (-3.5% yoy), €2,710.3 thousand (-27.3% yoy) & 2,260.7 thousand m2 of surface (-12.6% yoy). Moreover, residential buildings permits accounted for 72.2% of the total building permits reaching 5,069 in 2020 (-2.1% yoy).