Economy of Cyprus

Economy of Cyprus
Nicosia, the island's financial hub
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
Calendar year
Trade organisations
European Union, World Trade Organization
Country group
Statistics
PopulationIncrease 0.921 million (2024 est.)[4]
GDP
  • Increase $34.790 billion (nominal, 2024 est.)[4]
  • Increase $55.140 billion (PPP, 2024 est.)[4]
GDP rank
GDP growth
GDP per capita
  • Increase $37,767 (nominal, 2024 est.)[4]
  • Increase $59,858 (PPP, 2024 est.)[4]
GDP per capita rank
GDP by sector
  • 0.6% (October 2024)[9]
  • 2.2% (2024f)[4]
Population below poverty line
Steady 16.7% at risk of poverty or social exclusion (2023)[10]
Steady 29.4 low (2022)[11]
Increase 53 out of 100 points (2023)[14] (49th)
Labour force
  • Increase 655,118 (2021)[15]
  • Increase 78.9% employment rate (2023)[16]
Labour force by occupation
  • agriculture: 3.8%
  • industry: 15.2%
  • services: 81%
  • (2014 est.)[8]
Unemployment
  • Positive decrease 5.0% (September 2024)[17]
  • Positive decrease 5.3% (2024f)[4]
  • Steady 15.9% youth unemployment (under 25s; September 2024)[17]
Average gross salary
Increase €2,475 per month (Q2 2024 est.)[18]
Increase €17,582 (2018; annual, equivalised)[19]
Main industries
tourism, food and beverage processing, cement and gypsum, ship repair and refurbishment, textiles, light chemicals, metal products, wood, paper, stone and clay products[8]
External
ExportsIncrease $5.16 billion (2021)[20]
Export goods
citrus, potatoes, pharmaceuticals, cement, clothing[8]
Main export partners
ImportsIncrease $14.8 billion (2021)[20]
Import goods
consumer goods, petroleum and lubricants, machinery, transport equipment[8]
Main import partners
Decrease −$1.458 billion (2017 est.)[8]
Positive decrease $95.28 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
Public finances
€23.0759 billion (Positive decrease 73.6% of GDP, 2023 est.)[21][22]
€631.8 million (Increase 2.0% of GDP, 2023 est.)[21][22]
RevenuesIncrease 43.9% of GDP (2023 est.)[22]
ExpensesNegative increase 41.9% of GDP (2023 est.)[22]
Economic aid
Increase $888.2 million (31 December 2017 est.)[8]
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.


The economy of Cyprus is a high-income economy as classified by the World Bank,[3] and was included by the International Monetary Fund in its list of advanced economies in 2001.[1][2] Cyprus adopted the euro as its official currency on 1 January 2008, replacing the Cypriot pound at an irrevocable fixed exchange rate of CYP 0.585274 per €1.[30]

The Cypriot financial crisis, part of the wider European debt crisis, dominated the country's economic affairs in the 2010s. In March 2013, the Cypriot government reached an agreement with its eurozone partners to split the country's second biggest bank, the Cyprus Popular Bank (also known as Laiki Bank), into a "bad" bank which would be wound down over time and a "good" bank which would be absorbed by the larger Bank of Cyprus. In return for a €10 billion bailout from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the Cypriot government would be required to impose a significant haircut on uninsured deposits.[31] Insured deposits of €100,000 or less would not be affected.[32][33][34] After a three-and-a-half-year recession, Cyprus returned to growth in the first quarter of 2015.[35] Cyprus successfully concluded its three-year financial assistance programme at the end of March 2016, having borrowed a total of €6.3 billion from the European Stability Mechanism and €1 billion from the IMF.[36][37] The remaining €2.7 billion of the ESM bailout was never dispensed, due to the Cypriot government's better than expected finances over the course of the programme.[36][37]

Charts showing the GDP of Cyprus.
Exclusive economic zone between Israel and Cyprus as signed in Nicosia.
The port of Limassol, the busiest in Cyprus.
A vineyard in the Troodos Mountains. The agricultural sector continues to employ a significant proportion of the labor force.
  1. ^ a b "World Economic Outlook Database (WEO) - Groups and Aggregates". Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b "World Economic Outlook Database (WEO) - Changes to the Database". Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b "World Bank Country and Lending Groups – World Bank Data Help Desk". Washington, D.C.: The World Bank Group. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Cite error: The named reference WEO database was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "GDP GROWTH RATE: 3rd QUARTER 2024 (FLASH ESTIMATE)". Nicosia: Statistical Service of Cyprus. 14 November 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  6. ^ "GDP AND EMPLOYMENT FLASH ESTIMATES FOR THE THIRD QUARTER OF 2024". Luxembourg: Eurostat. 14 November 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  7. ^ "Annual national accounts: Major revision for the years 1995-2022 and revised estimate for the year 2023". Nicosia: Statistical Service of Cyprus. 18 October 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "Cyprus". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 6 February 2020. (Archived 2020 edition.)
  9. ^ "CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (CPI): OCTOBER 2024". Nicosia: Statistical Service of Cyprus. 7 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  10. ^ "Risk of Poverty 2023". Nicosia: Statistical Service of Cyprus. 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  11. ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income - EU-SILC survey". Luxembourg: Eurostat. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Country Insights". New York: Human Development Report Office, United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  13. ^ "Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index". New York: Human Development Report Office, United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  14. ^ "Corruption Perceptions Index". Transparency International. 30 January 2024. Archived from the original on 30 January 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Labor force, total - Cyprus". Washington, D.C.: World Bank. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Employment rate by sex, age group 20-64". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  17. ^ a b "Euro area unemployment at 6.3%". Luxembourg: Eurostat. 31 October 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  18. ^ "AVERAGE MONTHLY EARNINGS OF EMPLOYEES: 2nd QUARTER 2024". Nicosia: Statistical Service of Cyprus. 8 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  19. ^ "Mean and median income by age and sex - EU-SILC and ECHP surveys". Luxembourg: Eurostat. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  20. ^ a b c d "Cyprus (CYP) Exports, Imports, and Trade Partners". The Observatory of Economic Complexity. 4 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  21. ^ a b "Excessive Deficit Procedure and Annual Fiscal Accounts of General Government - Surplus €631,8mn". Nicosia: Statistical Service of Cyprus. 22 October 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  22. ^ a b c d "Euro area government deficit at 3.6% and EU at 3.5% of GDP". Luxembourg: Eurostat. 22 October 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  23. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. ^ "DBRS Morningstar Confirms the Republic of Cyprus at BBB, Stable Trend". Frankfurt: DBRS Morningstar. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  26. ^ "Fitch Upgrades Cyprus to 'BBB'; Outlook Stable". Frankfurt: Fitch Ratings. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  27. ^ "Moody's affirms Cyprus' Ba1 ratings, changes outlook to positive from stable". Frankfurt: Moody's Investors Service. 19 August 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  28. ^ "Rating: Cyprus Credit Rating 2023". countryeconomy.com. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  29. ^ "Scope upgrades the Republic of Cyprus' long-term credit ratings to A-; Outlook Stable". Berlin: Scope Ratings. 25 October 2024. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  30. ^ "Our money". Frankfurt: European Central Bank. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  31. ^ Higgins, Andrew (31 March 2013). "As Banks in Cyprus Falter, Other Tax Havens Step In". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  32. ^ "Eurogroup Statement on Cyprus". Eurogroup. 25 March 2013. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  33. ^ Jan Strupczewski; Annika Breidthardt (25 March 2013). "Last-minute Cyprus deal to close bank, force losses". Reuters. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  34. ^ "Eurogroup signs off on bailout agreement reached by Cyprus and troika". Ekathimerini. Greece. 25 March 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  35. ^ "Cyprus growth welcome but fragile – finmin". Cyprus Weekly. 13 May 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  36. ^ a b "Cyprus successfully exits ESM programme". Luxembourg: European Stability Mechanism. 31 March 2016. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  37. ^ a b "Επισήμως εκτός μνημονίου η Κύπρος". Kathimerini (in Greek). Athens. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.