11,8% increase in consumer spending in Cyprus

By 11,8%, the final consumption expenditure of households in Cyprus increased in 2022 compared to 2021 (by 4,7% in the EU), according to data released by Eurostat, the EU's statistical agency.

This indicator in Cyprus had decreased in 2020 compared to 2019 (-15,9% after a small annual increase of 2,1% in 2019), while it started to increase again on an annual basis in 2021 (by 13,6 %).

In the EU the index had decreased in 2020 compared to 2019 (-7,9% after an annual increase of 1,5% in 2019), and started to increase again on an annual basis in 2021 (by 4,8%).

Compared to 2021 in the EU, 2022 saw a significant increase in household consumption of goods and services that had experienced an unprecedented decline in 2020 due to the pandemic COVID-19.

In particular, in 2022, spending on restaurants and hotels increased in volume by 33,8%, on leisure and culture by 14,7%, on clothing and footwear by 11,5% and on transport by 4,7%. Household consumption increased for all categories except food and non-alcoholic beverages (-3,1%) and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (-1,0%).

In Cyprus, according to preliminary estimates, spending on restaurants and hotels increased by 27,9%, on transport by 14,1%, on clothing and footwear by 11,9%, and on leisure and culture by 11,4%. An increase was also recorded in alcoholic beverages and tobacco (6,1%) and in food and non-alcoholic beverages (5,0%).

Although EU household consumption surpassed pre-COVID levels in 2022, some categories still lagged behind pre-pandemic levels. Specifically, in 2022, household consumption was still lower than 2019 volumes for transport (-7,8%), restaurants and hotels (-2,4%) and education (-1,5%) ).

Source: KYPE