Cyprus GDP hit a record high of €23.4 bln in 2021

By Yiannis Seitanides

The revision of GDP figures at current prices for 2021, brought Cyprus’ GDP to an all-time high of €23.43 billion during the previous year.

Moreover, during this time, the Cypriot economy recorded a record growth of 8.4 per cent, with GDP having exceeded 2019 levels.

The revision is based on public finance and balance of payments data and affects GDP in previous years.

The recession in 2020 amounted to 6 per cent, while in 2019, Cyprus achieved growth of 6.5 per cent, slightly lower than the growth of 6.8 per cent recorded in 2018.

The figures released by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat) show what the drivers of the recovery after the pandemic shock were.

Taxes on production and imports rose by 16.7 per cent, wage and salary earnings rose by 6 per cent, gross income by 3 per cent,  while consumption of fixed assets increased by 3.5 per cent.

Substantial support was provided by the government, through various measures, with public consumption rising by 9.5 per cent, but it hit fixed capital formation, which fell by 3 per cent.

Private consumption grew by 5.9 per cent and remains the driving component of the country’s GDP, reaching €13.87 billion. This figure continues to remain below pre-pandemic levels, having reached €14.07 billion in 2019.

Although tourism did not fully recover during the previous year, exports of goods and services jumped by 15.9 per cent with the opening of the economy, subsequently boosting imports by 10.7 per cent.

The revision also improved Cyprus’ deficit to debt ratio.

The preliminary results for the previous year, as verified and certified under the European Commission’s Excessive Deficit Procedure, show a fiscal deficit of €389.1 million, corresponding to 1.7 per cent of GDP, and a fiscal debt of €24.27 billion or 103.6 per cent of GDP.