Trade deficit decreases substantially in January
Cyprus saw a significant reduction in its trade deficit, which stood at €566.5 million in January 2024, according to the Cyprus Statistics Service Cystat.
This was a marked decline compared to €1.419.9m in January 2023. The reduction was attributed to a major decrease in the value of imported goods. Specifically, in January 2024, imports amounted to €848.1m, a decrease of 51.1 per cent compared to January last year when the total value of imports was €1.735.1m.
The majority of imports were from EU member-states and totalled €510.7m. Imports from third countries totalled €337.4m. This is in stark contrast with the figures from January 2023, when €529.1m worth of imports came from the EU and €1,206m from other countries.
The imports in January 2024 included the transfer of economic ownership of ships, adding up to €65.2m, compared to a significant €936.3m in January 2023.
Total exports in January 2024 amounted to €281.5m, a 10.7 per cent decrease compared to the previous January’s €315.2m.
The exports to other EU states and third countries were €103.5m and €178.1m, respectively, showing a significant variation from the previous year’s figures of €69.8m and €245.4m.
It’s important to note that the January 2024 exports also included the transfer of economic ownership of ships and aircraft, valued at €69.5m, down from €107.5m in January 2023. Consequently, the trade deficit for January 2024 was significantly reduced to €566.5m from €1.419.9m in the corresponding month of the previous year.
Data for December 2023 presented an interesting comparison. Total imports of goods in December 2023 escalated to €928.4m, up by 9.6 per cent from €847.3m in December 2022. This increase is complemented by the impressive growth in exports of domestically produced goods, including ship and aircraft supplies, which increased to €216.9m from €103.9m in December 2022, an increase of 108.8 per cent.
On the plus side, the value of industrial product exports in December 2023 was €208.3m, in comparison to €95.7m in December 2022. Additionally, agricultural product exports were slightly up, valued at €7.6m compared to €7.3m in December 2022.
In contrast, exports of foreign goods, including ship and aircraft supplies for December 2023, were reported at €173.0m, a decrease of 64.7 per cent from €489.4m in December 2022.