Cyprus Business Now

Cyprus’ trade deficit for the period between January and December 2022 increased by €2 billion, marking a 34.5 per cent increase compared to the corresponding period in 2021.

According to data published by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat) on Thursday, the trade deficit stood at €7.1 billion for the period between January and December 2022, compared to €5.27 billion in the corresponding period of 2021.

Moreover, the total imports of goods during this period reached €11.29 billion, which is a 30.5 per cent increase from €8.65 billion for the same period in 2021.

The total exports of goods for the same period amounted to €4.18 billion, reflecting a 24.2 per cent increase from the €3.37 billion recorded during the same period in 2021.

According to the report, the European Union was the main source of goods imported to Cyprus, with a share of €6.86 billion in total imports, while imports from the rest of the European countries reached €1 billion.

In addition, imports from the rest of the world amounted to €3.4 billion.

Exports to the European Union amounted to €1.089 billion, while exports to the rest of the European countries reached €383.9 million.

Finally, export exports to the rest of the world between January and December 2022 amounted to €2.71 billion.

Cyprus’ Composite Leading Economic Index (CPI) saw a yearly decrease of 0.9 per cent in February 2023, according to the latest revised data, following annual declines of 3.1 per cent in January and 3.7 per cent in December 2022.

The Centre for Economic Research of the University of Cyprus announced that the trend towards reversing the index’s downward trajectory in February 2023 has been strengthened.

“This improvement is attributed to the improved performance of most domestic and international components of the index in February,” the centre said in its report.

“The persistently negative annual growth rate of GDP in February 2023, despite the improvement, confirms economic forecasts for 2023, which predict a significant slowdown of the Cypriot economy compared to 2022 without entering a recession,” it added.

Moreover, the report noted that the improvement was driven in part by the international Brent Crude oil price, which, after an unprecedented decline in its annual growth rate in January, also recorded a decline in February 2023.

Notably, the contribution of tourist arrivals was significant, as February 2023 saw a record month for tourist arrivals compared to the corresponding period in previous years. Meanwhile, the acceleration of the growth rate of the remaining domestic components of Cyprus’ GDP further strengthened the improved course of the index.

On the other hand, Economic Climate Indicators in the eurozone and in Cyprus continue to restrain the upward trend of the index.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Thursday, March 23 with losses.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 104.26 points at 12:45 during the day, reflecting a decrease of 1.60 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 62.98 points, representing a drop of 1.61 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €322,139.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main and alternative indexes fell by 1.75 per cent and 0.64 per cent respectively, while the hotel and investment firm indexes remained stable.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (-3.16 per cent), Blue Island (no change), Atlantic Insurance (no change), the Cyprus Cement Company (-4.84 per cent), and Louis PLC (-3.37 per cent).