Tourist arrivals in Cyprus rose by 6.9 per cent in July, with well over half a million visitors being recorded, according to figures released on Tuesday by the state statistical service.
Specifically, a total of 589,116 tourists visited the island during this time, compared to 551,229 in July 2024.
For the first seven months of 2025, tourist arrivals reached 2,432,129, up from 2,203,704 in the same period of 2024, marking an increase of 10.4 per cent.
Moreover, the United Kingdom remained the largest source of tourism in July, accounting for 32.2 per cent of total arrivals with 189,730 visitors.
Israel followed with 13 per cent or 76,557 arrivals, while Poland accounted for 7.4 per cent or 43,713 visitors.
Germany contributed 4 per cent with 23,694 tourists, Sweden 3.5 per cent with 20,455 arrivals, and Romania 2.9 per cent with 17,000 visitors.
This marks the tenth consecutive year that Bank of Cyprus has received the title of Cyprus’ best bank from Euromoney.
According to an official announcement released on Tuesday, the award reflects the bank’s achievements during the evaluation period, which covered January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024.
Among the key milestones in 2024 was a shareholder distribution of €241 million, nearly double the distribution paid in 2023.
The bank also upgraded its distribution policy to include a target payout ratio of 50 to 70 per cent starting from 2025.
Cyprus recorded one of the sharpest declines in new business registrations in the European Union in the second quarter of 2025, while also posting one of the steepest rises in bankruptcies, according to Eurostat.
The number of new businesses created on the island fell by 8.4 per cent compared with the first quarter, placing Cyprus among the weakest performers in the bloc.
Only Denmark, where registrations dropped by 18.2 per cent, and Germany, which saw a fall of 6.2 per cent, reported similar declines.
At the same time, bankruptcy declarations in Cyprus rose by 66.8 per cent, the second-highest increase in the EU.
Latvia recorded the largest rise at 70.7 per cent, while Slovakia followed with an increase of 20.1 per cent.
Cyprus’ GDP growth rate in real terms for the second quarter of 2025 was positive, reaching an estimated 3.3 per cent over the corresponding quarter of 2024, according to the latest flash estimate by the state statistical service (Cystat).
In its latest report, Cystat explained that the growth rate in real terms, non-seasonally adjusted, is estimated at 3.6 per cent.
The positive performance of the economy is mainly attributed to the sectors of wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles, information and communication, and hotels and restaurants.
The flash estimate is intended to provide an early picture of the overall development of the Cyprus economy, based on preliminary data, 45 days after the end of the quarter.
The consultation is conducted in accordance with the obligation provided for in Article 53 of the regulation and aims to collect opinions and documented evidence on the effectiveness of the DMA in achieving fair and competitive digital markets.
The commission will use comments from stakeholders, along with other data, to prepare an evaluation report and consider any necessary adjustments or measures.
The Digital Markets Act is a European Union regulation designed to make digital markets fairer and more competitive across the EU.
The programme offers eligible Cypriot businesses total funding of up to €30,000 per project.
The call is open to companies across all sectors with at least 10 full-time employees that are looking to invest in developing new products or services.
According to the announcement, the procedure will follow a simplified submission process with expedited evaluation.
The overall budget for the scheme amounts to €580,000.
The contract, awarded to Araco Construction Cy Ltd, was signed by Public Works director Eleftherios Eleftheriou on behalf of Cyprus and company representative Mohammed Rokaya.
The administrative court annulled the initial award last March after ruling that the tender review authority had met irregularly in separate sessions.
However, with the legal issues resolved, the contract worth €18.34m excluding VAT has now been signed, and construction is set to begin in September 2025. The work is expected to last 16 months and be completed by January 2027.
Funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan alongside national resources, the project forms part of Larnaca’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP).
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