Cyprus saw its trade deficit shrink to €6.37 billion in January–October 2024, a significant reduction compared to €7.56 billion during the same period in 2023.

The improvement reflects a 12.3 per cent drop in imports, which fell to €9.76 billion from €11.13 billion, according to the latest foreign trade statistics.

This was accompanied by a more modest 5.3 per cent decline in exports, which stood at €3.38 billion compared to €3.57 billion in the previous year.

In October 2024 alone, provisional data showed imports rising by 14.5 per cent year-on-year to €1.2 billion, driven by economic ownership transfers of vessels valued at €63.3 million.

Exports for the month soared by 57.0 per cent to €442.3 million, bolstered by a notable increase in exports to third countries, which more than doubled from €187.9 million in October 2023 to €351.6 million in October 2024.

Vessel transfers contributed €53.0 million to the October export total, a significant jump from €4.8 million in the same month the previous year.

For September 2024, final data indicated a decline in both imports and exports compared to the previous year.

Imports fell by 13.6 per cent to €951.9 million, while exports of domestically produced products dropped sharply by 42.0 per cent, amounting to €205.9 million.

Moreover, exports of industrial products decreased from €349.2 million to €198.0 million, although agricultural exports rose slightly to €6.8 million from €4.8 million.

Meanwhile, exports of foreign goods increased by 62.3 per cent to €144.3 million.