Cyprus December Trade Deficit Widens

(RTTNews) - Cyprus' merchandise trade deficit widened sharply in December as imports surged while exports continued to fall, preliminary data from the statistical office Cystat showed on Monday.

The visible trade deficit increased to EUR 955.23 million from EUR 561.72 million in the same month a year ago. The shortfall was EUR 761.45 million in November.

The latest trade gap figure is the biggest since January 2023, when it was EUR 1.435 billion.

Imports jumped 37.7 percent year-on-year in December after a 3.7 percent increase in November. Exports fell for a second month in a row, down 8.5 percent that followed the massive 49.3 percent slump in the previous month.

In December, imports included the transfer of economic ownership of vessels and aircrafts worth EUR 372.5 million versus EUR 4.8 million in the same month of 2023. Exports included the transfer of economic ownership of vessels worth EUR 41.4 million as compared to EUR 100.1 million in December 2023.

Imports from the EU rose 11.4 percent, which was the first increase since May. Exports from the group of countries decreased for a third month in a row, down 5.2 percent. Extra-EU imports surged 81.5 percent and exports to countries outside the EU shrunk further, by 9.5 percent.

For the full year 2024, the goods trade deficit was EUR 8.134 billion versus EUR 8.470 billion in the previous year. Imports fell 7.0 percent and exports dropped 12.5 percent.