Cyprus Business Now

Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat) reported a 1.5 per cent annual increase in total beer sales for 2023, on Monday, January 15.

The total beer deliveries for the year reached 42.13 million litres, a slight uptick from 41.49 million litres in 2022. This  growth is attributed to a 1.1 per cent increase in beer deliveries for domestic consumption, amounting to 39.69 million litres in 2023 compared to 39.25 million litres the preceding year.

A significant increase of 8.9 per cent was recorded in beer exports, compared to 2022, reaching 2.44 million litres, from 2.24 million litres the previous year.

In December 2023, however, the trend took a different turn, witnessing an overall decrease of 13.3 per cent in beer deliveries compared to December 2022. The decline was notably pronounced in domestic consumption, with a 16.1 per cent reduction. Contrarily, beer exports saw a substantial surge of 96.9 per cent, reaching 112,983 litres as opposed to 57,466 litres in December 2022.

According to Eurostat‘s first estimates, in November 2023, Cyprus stood out as the EU member state with the largest annual increase in exports, with a growth of 7.5 per cent compared to the same month in 2022. It also secured the second-largest surge in imports during that timeframe.

On the flip side, several EU nations faced declines in both exports and imports. Belgium took a hit with a substantial 20.6 per cent decrease in exports, while Latvia, Bulgaria, and Lithuania also saw significant drops of 18.8 per cent, 18.0 per cent, and 17.2 per cent, respectively.

Shifting the focus to imports, November 2023 witnessed a general downturn across EU members, compared to the previous year. Notable exceptions were Ireland, experiencing a modest uptick of 1.8 per cent, and Cyprus, demonstrating a more substantial increase of 2.5 per cent. Slovenia stood out with a notable surge in imports, registering a growth of 7.8 per cent.

Hungary and Belgium faced the most significant reductions in imports, recording declines of 25.0 per cent and 22.0 per cent, respectively.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) closed with profits during the first stock market meeting of the week.

The General Index of the CSE closed at 136.45 points and +0.24 per cent.

The FTSE/CySE 20 Index was at 82.80 points, also up 0.24 per cent.

The value of the transactions amounted to €343.8 thousand.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (+0.89 per cent), Vassiliko Cement (+0.62 per cent), Demetra Holdings (-0.69 per cent), Lordos United Plastics (-6.11 per cent), Salamis Tours (Holdings) (+0.59 per cent), Hellenic Bank (no change), and VCW (+0.62 per cent).