The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Keve) on Tuesday welcomed the signing of a new strategic agreement between Cyprus and France.

In its announcement, the chamber said that the agreement “upgrades bilateral cooperation and creates tangible prospects for the Cypriot economy and business ecosystem” at a time of heightened regional and economic challenges.

The agreement, signed in Paris on December 15, broadens and deepens cooperation between the two countries, placing particular emphasis on defence and security while also extending into key economic and strategic areas with direct relevance for Cyprus-based businesses.

The chamber said the deal strengthens collaboration in energy and the green transition, with a clear focus on promoting investments in clean technologies, energy efficiency and smart infrastructure “that can enhance competitiveness and reinforce energy security“.

It also underlined the agreement’s importance for digital policy and innovation.

Cypriots made more than 237,000 trips abroad for business purposes in 2024, while Cyprus itself recorded close to 279,000 business-related arrivals by foreign visitors over the same period, according to the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

The data shows that business travel in both 2023 and 2024 remained broadly stable and at higher levels than earlier years, reflecting a continued recovery from the sharp disruption caused by the pandemic, which had led to a steep decline in travel overall, including for professional reasons.

In detail, residents of Cyprus made a total of 3,366,862 trips in 2024.

Of these, 262,666 were for business purposes. The vast majority involved travel abroad, with 237,874 trips, while 24,792 concerned movements within the island.

At the same time, business-related arrivals to Cyprus also increased.

Cyprus recorded one of the largest deficits in personal transfers in the European Union during 2024, according to Eurostat, highlighting the scale of money flowing out of the country to households outside the bloc relative to inflows.

Personal transfers, defined as flows of money sent by EU resident households to non-EU resident households, amounted to €52.10 billion across the EU in 2024, representing an increase of 6 per cent compared with €49.20 billion in 2023.

During the same year, inflows of personal transfers to EU resident households reached €14.80 bn, rising by 7 per cent from €13.80 bn in 2023.

Over the past 5 years, Eurostat recorded a substantial increase in outflows of personal transfers, which surged by 51 per cent, while inflows grew at a slower pace of 26 per cent.

As a result of these diverging trends, the EU’s negative balance of personal transfers with non-EU countries widened significantly, reaching €37.30 bn in 2024.

Cyprus ranked among the leading countries in Europe for the use of generative artificial intelligence in 2025, according to Eurostat, highlighting the island’s growing digital engagement across households, work and education.

Eurostat on Tuesday reported that 32.7 per cent of people aged 16 to 74 across the European Union had used generative AI tools in 2025, reflecting the rapid spread of technologies such as text, image and content generation in everyday life.

Meanwhile, the share of people in Cyprus using generative AI tools reached 44.2 per cent, placing the country well above the EU average and among the top performers in the bloc.

The data showed that Cyprus’ usage rate was slightly higher than Greece at 44.1 per cent and close to Ireland, where 44.9 per cent of people reported using generative AI tools in the previous three months.

Malta, Denmark and Estonia recorded the highest overall levels of use in the EU, with shares of 46.5 per cent, 48.4 per cent and 46.6 per cent respectively, confirming a strong concentration of adoption in smaller and digitally advanced economies.

The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) on Tuesday reported a sharp improvement in loan quality across the Cypriot banking sector, alongside a decline in profitability, reflecting changing conditions across the domestic financial system.

The Central Bank of Cyprus said the non-performing loans ratio of the Cypriot banking sector, excluding loans and advances to central banks and credit institutions, fell to 4.5 per cent at the end of September 2025, down from 5.6 per cent at the end of June 2025.

Using the European Banking Authority’s risk dashboard methodology, which includes loans and advances to central banks and credit institutions, the NPL ratio declined to 2.3 per cent at the end of September 2025, compared with 2.9 per cent three months earlier.

The central bank also reported a marked strengthening in provisions, with the coverage ratio of non-performing loans rising to 68.5 per cent at the end of September 2025, up from 62.0 per cent at the end of June 2025.

Cyprus continued to record relatively low levels of payment fraud in 2024, even as European banking supervisors warn that the overall risk landscape is evolving, with criminals increasingly shifting tactics rather than disappearing.

According to a joint report by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Central Bank ECB), the value of fraudulent card transactions in Cyprus amounted to €2.3 million last year, representing 0.015 per cent of card transaction value.

Fraud involving credit transfers reached €2.7m, equivalent to 0.001 per cent, while losses linked to e-money transactions and cash withdrawals remained marginal, at €42,300 and €26,800 respectively.

In volume terms, fraudulent card transactions accounted for around 0.01 per cent of total card payments, with even lower shares recorded for other payment instruments.

Cyprus recorded strong growth in industrial production in October 2025, outperforming the euro area and EU averages, according to new figures released this week by Eurostat.

Eurostat reported that in October 2025, compared with September 2025, seasonally adjusted industrial production increased by 0.8 per cent in the euro area and by 0.3 per cent in the EU, marking an acceleration from September when production rose by 0.2 per cent and 1.0 per cent respectively.

On an annual basis, industrial production in October 2025 was 2.0 per cent higher in the euro area and 1.9 per cent higher in the EU compared with October 2024, signalling sustained recovery across most industrial sectors.

Cyprus stood out among member states, with industrial production rising by 3.3 per cent in October 2025 compared with September.

Eurobank highlighted the importance of embedding environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles into core business strategy rather than treating them as a communications exercise, during its participation in the 4th Cyprus ESG Forum.

The aim, according to the bank, is to promote accountability and sustainable practices across the business community.

The forum, held in Nicosia earlier this month with the support of Eurobank, focused on the modern challenges and opportunities created by ESG for businesses and the decisive role companies play in shaping a more sustainable economic and entrepreneurial environment.

Discussions centred on the urgent need to integrate sustainability strategies into key business operations, the implementation of effective ESG frameworks and the way artificial intelligence is transforming sustainable development.

Social protection expenditure fell as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023, even as the total spending increased in millions of euros, reflecting economic growth, according to the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

Social protection expenditure reached 19.2 per cent of GDP in 2023, a decrease from 20.6 per cent recorded in 2022.

The total expenditure on social protection in 2023 amounted to €6.23 billion, compared to €6.12 billion in 2022.

The data reveals that the most significant functions driving this expenditure were old age, a well as sickness and healthcare.

Combined, these two functions constituted 76.3 per cent of the social protection benefits provided in 2023, slightly up from 76.1 per cent in 2022.

Hourly labour costs in Cyprus rose by 3.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2025, compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year, according to provisional data released by the Statistical Service (Cystat) on Tuesday .

The two main components of labour costs, wages and salaries per hour worked and non-wage costs per hour worked, increased by 3.5 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively, compared with the same quarter of 2024 .

Cyprus-based mobile game developer Top App Games Ltd announced on Tuesday that its hit title Ludus: Merge Arena has surpassed 8 million installs worldwide, underscoring the island’s growing role in the international gaming industry.

The company explained that the success of Ludus: Merge Arena reflects sustained investment in gameplay updates, strategic collaborations and close engagement with its global player community.

“Reaching 8 million installs worldwide is a milestone that reflects the hard work of our team and the passion of our community,” said Vladimir Markov, CEO of Top App Games Ltd.

“We’re excited to continue expanding the Ludus universe with new collaborations and innovative gameplay features,” he added.

“Ludus’ performance demonstrates the strong global appetite for innovative and strategic mobile gaming,” said Vladimir Nikolsky, CEO of Utmost Games and an investor in the company.

Cyprus stepped onto one of the world’s largest maritime stages this month, making its debut with a national pavilion at MARINTEC China 2025, as the government stepped up efforts to promote the country’s shipping and maritime technology sector internationally.

The Ministry of Energy, working with the Cyprus Trade Centre (CTC) in Beijing, coordinated the island’s first official participation in the biennial exhibition, which was held in Shanghai from first week of December and drew more than 2,200 exhibitors and over 80,000 visitors from around 100 countries.

The move forms part of a broader strategy by the ministry to strengthen the international footprint of Cypriot companies, encourage outward-looking business activity and support new partnerships across shipping, technology and innovation.

The national pavilion hosted representatives from the Deputy Ministry of Shipping alongside five Cyprus-based companies, Uniteam Marine, Intellar Innovative Solutions, Onetech Services, VenusHub and World Link Maritime Communications.

Cyprus has renewed its collective agreement covering seafarers employed on Cyprus-flagged ships, with employers and unions signing a new three-year deal that aligns local maritime labour standards with international frameworks.

The agreement was signed this week by the Cyprus Shipping Chamber (CSC), acting as the employers’ association, together with the two maritime unions, Sek and Peo.

It is also endorsed by the Employers and industrialists federation (Oev), according to a statement by the chamber.

Valid from January 1, 2026 until December 31, 2028, the renewed agreement follows international collective bargaining frameworks and recognised core labour standards.

As part of the renewal, wage scales and compensation levels, including payments linked to loss of life or disability, have been adjusted to reflect the newly agreed International Labour Organisation (ILO) minimum wage for able seafarers.