Cyprus Business Now

Tourism revenue in Cyprus reached €399.7 million in August 2022, compared to €272.5 million recorded in August 2021, marking an increase of 46.7 per cent, according to a report released this week by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

According to the report, which utilises processed data collected during a traveller survey conducted by the service, tourism revenue is estimated to have reached €1.61 billion during the period between January and August 2022.

For comparison, tourism revenue reached €777 million in the corresponding period of 2021, while it stood at €235.6 million during the same period in 2020, a year heavily impacted by the severe restrictions put in place to combat the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite the significant increase in tourism revenues over the previous year, revenues are still down compared to the pre-pandemic era, especially in 2019, a record year for Cypriot tourism.

It should be recalled that in August 2019 alone, tourism revenue amounted to €431.1 million.

In addition, for the first eight months of 2022, tourism revenue is down by 7.4 per cent compared to the corresponding period of 2019.

The Producer Price Index in Industry for September 2022 recorded an annual increase of 28.2 per cent, according to data released this week by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

The Index for the month of September 2022 reached 142.6 points (base 2015=100), marking an increase of 0.6 per cent compared to August 2022.

For the period between January and September 2022, the index recorded an increase of 23.1 per cent compared to the corresponding period of 2021.

In September 2022, the index saw an increase in the mining and quarrying sectors by 1.2 per cent month-on-month, as well as in manufacturing by 1 per cent.

In addition, there was also a month-on-month rise of 0.1 per cent in electricity supply, while the index fell by 1.5 per cent month-on-month in the sector of water supply and material recovery.

In terms of changes compared to the corresponding month of the previous year, increases were observed across all sectors.

Electricity supply rose by 79.9 per cent year-on-year, mining and quarrying by 16.5 per cent, the manufacturing sector increased by 14.1 per cent, while the index rose by 11.5 per cent in the sector of water supply and material recovery.

In terms of the index in each manufacturing sector’s activities in September 2022, compared to the corresponding month of the previous year, increases were recorded across all economic activities.

The production of other non-metallic mineral products rose by 24.7 per cent, while the production of basic metals and manufacturing of metallic products increased by 20.1 per cent.

The wood industry saw an increase of 15.3 per cent, the manufacture of rubber and plastic products increased by 14.4 per cent, while the food and beverage industry rose by 13.7 per cent.

The hourly labour wage in Cyprus has been estimated to have reached €18.10, with 2020 being used as the reference year, according to the results of the Labour Cost Survey conducted by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

“The hourly labour cost per hour of work, for all economic activities, excluding the sectors of agriculture, forestry and fishing, as well as household activities, is €18.10,” the service explained.

Moreover, according to the report, the hourly labour cost by economic activity displays significant deviations.

The lowest hourly labour cost was recorded in the accommodation and catering services activities sector at €7.30, followed by €11.20 in wholesale and retail trade.

The highest hourly wage was recorded in the education sector with €36.20, followed by the financial and insurance activities sector with €33.70.

The annual labour cost per employee, which is denoted in full-time labour units, excluding apprentices, was €30,335 in 2020, which corresponds to a monthly salary of €2,528.

The accommodation and catering services sector has the lowest annual and monthly labour costs with €11,201 and €933 respectively, while the financial and insurance activities sector has the highest labour costs, with an annual salary of €55,467 and a monthly salary of €4,622.

According to service, the total labour cost consists primarily of salaries and daily wages at 78.6 per cent, as well as employer-side social security contributions at 21.1 per cent.

“The costs for any vocational training expenses incurred by the employer, other expenses incurred by the employer, as well as all taxes paid by the employer constitute a negligible part of the total cost,” the service noted.

What is more, the average number of hours worked by full-time employees per year ranged from 1,296 in education to 1,926 in mining and quarrying.

Finally, average hours of paid work by full-time employees per year ranged from 1,527 in arts, entertainment and recreation to 2,207 in mining and quarrying.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Tuesday, November 1 with losses.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 76.35 points at 13:11 during the day, reflecting a drop of 0.34 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 45.85 points, which represents a decrease of 0.35 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €85,757.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main and alternative indexes fell by 0.42 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively, while the hotel and investment firm indexes remained stable.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by Hellenic Bank (no change), the Bank of Cyprus (+0.35 per cent), Demetra (no change), Atlantic Insurance (no change), and Vassiliko Cement Works (-0.79 per cent).