Economic sentiment up in December

In December 2021, economic sentiment in Cyprus improved as the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI-CypERC) increased by 2.1 points compared with November 2021.

According to a University of Cyprus’ press release the increase in the ESI-CypERC resulted from stronger business confidence in services, construction and industry.

The increase in the Services Confidence Indicator was mainly driven by upward revisions in demand expectations.

The Retail Trade Confidence Indicator remained unchanged as the improved views on past and future sales were offset by a deterioration in the assessments of current stock levels.

The Construction Confidence Indicator improved slightly as a result of upward revisions in employment expectations, despite a deterioration in the assessments of the current levels of order books.

The rise in the Industry Confidence Indicator resulted from more favourable views on the current levels of order books, as well as upward revisions in production expectations.

The Consumer Confidence Indicator decreased marginally as consumers’ intentions for making major purchases in the near future weakened significantly.

In December, uncertainty among firms decreased, while uncertainty among consumers stayed at the level registered in November. Nevertheless, business uncertainty remains very high, particularly in the sectors of retail trade and industry.

Selling price expectations remained at very high levels in December, despite some downward revisions.