There was a €24.6 billion international trade deficit in the euro area in June 2022, according to a report released on Tuesday by the European Union’s statistical office (Eurostat).

In addition, the trade deficit stood at €34 billion for the entirety of the European Union.

“The first estimate for euro area exports of goods to the rest of the world in June 2022 was €252.2 billion, an increase of 20.1 per cent compared with June 2021 (€210 billion),” Eurostat said.

“Imports from the rest of the world stood at €276.8 billion, a rise of 43.5 per cent compared with June 2021 (€192.9 billion),” the office added.

Furthermore, between January and June 2022, euro area exports of goods to the rest of the world increased to €1.39 trillion, a rise of 18.7 per cent compared with the same period in 2021, while imports rose to €1.53 trillion, an increase of 43 per cent year-on-year.

This resulted in the euro area recording a deficit of €140.4 billion during this time, compared with a surplus of €100.6 billion in January-June 2021.

Rental car registrations have bucked the trend over privately-owned vehicles, marking an upward trend over the past seven months, according to a report by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

According to the report, rental cars in Cyprus roughly doubled during this time, increasing by 86.2 per cent year-on-year.

This has been primarily attributed to the lifting of travel restrictions, both in Europe and Cyprus, something which has boosted the tourism sector and thus the demand for rental cars.

Between January and July of this year, there were 2,878 rental registrations, compared to 1,546 registrations in the corresponding period of 2021.

This corresponds to one in five car registrations relating to rental cars, with 13,411 passenger saloon cars being registered during this time.

Moreover, the statistical service also reported on the most popular car brands during this period.

Kia (729), Nissan (706) and Toyota (392) occupied the top three spots, with 1827 vehicles between them.

These were followed by Mazda (247), Volkswagen (158), Suzuki (114) and Honda (92).

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Tuesday, August 16 with profits.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 69.83 points at 13:11 during the day, reflecting a rise of 0.62 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 41.87 points, which represents an increase of 0.65 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €89,626.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main and investment firm index rose by 0.89 per cent and 1.51 per cent, while the hotel and alternative indexes remained stable.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (+1.85 per cent), Demetra (+1.6 per cent), Logicom (-1.18 per cent), Hellenic Bank (+0.68 per cent) and Woolworth Cyprus Properties (no change).