According to the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat), inflation in Cyprus reached 5.4 per cent in January, while the Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell by 0.53 units to reach 104.57 units. The CPI stood at 105.1 units in December of the previous year.

The largest changes, when compared to the index of January 2021, were recorded in electricity (26.3 per cent) and petroleum products (25.3 per cent).

Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels registered a 14.1 per cent increase, while transport rose by 13.3 per cent.

Furthermore, transport and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels had the largest effect on the CPI.

The number of unemployed persons fell by 52.3 per cent year-on-year during the first month of 2022.

According to data released on Thursday by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat) unemployed persons registered at the District Labour Offices on the last day of January 2022 reached 15,430 people in total.

When compared to January 2021, unemployed persons decreased by 16,903 persons or 52.3 per cent.

This has been primarily attributed to the sectors of trade (a decrease of 3,671), accommodation and food service activities (a decrease of 2,897), manufacturing (a decrease of 1,165), construction (a decrease of 1,083), transportation and storage (a decrease of 873), as well as to the 1,487 newcomers who entered the labour market.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Friday, February 4 with losses.

The main Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 69.07 points at 12:29 during the day, reflecting a drop of 0.19 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 41.48 points, which represents a decrease of 0.19 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €39,457.51.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main index fell by 0.16 per cent, while the alternative index dropped by 0.07 per cent.

The hotel and investment firm indexes remained stable.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by Hellenic Bank (no change), the Bank of Cyprus (-0.91 per cent), KEO Plc (-1.47 per cent), Logicom (+0.56 per cent) and Blue Island (+9.82 per cent).