Cyprus's economic sentiment improved in October as a result of services and retail trade

In October 2022, economic sentiment in Cyprus improved as the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI-CypERC) increased by 0.4 points compared with September 2022.

According to a press release by the Economic Research Center of the University of Cyprus, the marginal increase in the ESI-CypERC was driven by confidence gains in services and retail trade.

The Services Confidence Indicator rose for the second month in a row, mainly as a result of more optimistic views on turnover over the next three months.

The increase in the Retail Trade Confidence Indicator was due to improved assessments of past sales and stock levels, and upward revisions in sales expectations.

The drop in the Construction Confidence Indicator was driven by the deterioration in firms’ assessments of the current levels of order books.

The Industry Confidence Indicator decreased owing to downward revisions in production expectations.

The decline in the Consumer Confidence Indicator resulted from a deterioration in most of its components (three out of four). In October, consumers assessed their recent financial situation less favorably and revised their expectations about the future economic conditions in Cyprus downwards. Moreover, consumers’ intentions to make major purchases weakened in October.

In October, economic uncertainty in Cyprus remained broadly stable at around the level registered in September.

Uncertainty in retail trade, construction and manufacturing rose, while uncertainty in services remained almost unchanged at the levels seen in August and September. Uncertainty among consumers declined slightly in October but is still at a relatively high level.