02.02.202610:20:25UTC+00Cyprus Retail Sales Growth Picks Up in December

Retail sales in Cyprus experienced an 8.9% year-on-year increase in December 2025, picking up speed from a 7.6% rise in the preceding month. Sales activity saw significant levels for food, beverages, and tobacco in specialized stores at 18.5%, although slightly lower than the 22.5% in November. Meanwhile, there was an uptick in sales for information and communication equipment at 16.4%, compared to 15.2%, and clothing and footwear, which grew to 15.4% from 14.1%. Additionally, there was a positive turnaround in trade for automotive fuel, registering a 5.6% growth against a previous decline of 3.6%, and in cultural and recreational goods, improving to 1% from a negative 1.5%. Conversely, there were declines in sales for flowers, plants, watches, jewelry, optical goods, and second-hand goods, which fell by 2.6% from a previous growth of 5.1%. Non-store sales also continued their downward trend, dropping by 4.3% following a 12% decline. Growth for pharmaceuticals, orthopedic goods, and cosmetics slowed to 0.5% from 3%. Overall, on a year-to-date basis, retail sales went up by 7.9%.