Cyprus Payment Landscape: A Deep Dive Into H1 2025 Trends

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

February 4, 2026

Recent data from the Central Bank of Cyprus provides a clearer picture of how payment behavior is changing across the country. In the first half of 2025, small everyday purchases were mostly made with cards, while larger payments were primarily carried out through credit transfers. With an average value of €4,496, credit transfers accounted for 84% of the total transaction value, reflecting a pattern similar to the wider euro area.

Shifting Payment Preferences

An analysis of the ten most valuable categories of goods and services purchased with Cypriot cards highlights a clear divide between in-store and online spending. Payments to payment institutions represented the largest share at 14% (€912 million), followed by government-related payments at nearly 12% (€768 million) and supermarket purchases at 11% (€690 million). Transactions involving payment institutions and government services were conducted mostly online, at 100% and 89% respectively, while supermarket purchases were overwhelmingly made in person, reaching 99%.

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Card Penetration And Consumer Adoption

By the end of the first half of 2025, the number of payment cards in circulation had risen by 7% compared to the same period in 2024, reaching a total of 2 million cards. This equates to roughly two cards per resident, pointing to broad adoption of digital payment methods throughout the country.

Corporate Transactions And Payment Instruments

Businesses continue to favor credit transfers, mainly because they offer stronger security, lower transaction costs, and better control over payment timing for higher-value operations. Across the euro area, the average corporate credit transfer reached €6,403 and represented 92% of total transaction value in H1 2025. Cheques, although steadily declining in use, still accounted for 6% of value with an average amount of €3,807, indicating that traditional payment tools have not disappeared entirely.

Online Versus Point‐of‐Sale Card Transactions

Across the euro area, card usage remains more common in physical stores, with 81% of transactions by volume taking place at point of sale and 19% online. In value terms, the split is 70% in-store and 30% online. Cyprus follows a similar pattern, though the average transaction size differs notably: approximately €37 at POS terminals compared with €125 online. This gap suggests that consumers are more inclined to use digital channels for higher-value purchases.

Advancements In Contactless Payments And ATM Deployment

Payment infrastructure has also seen gradual changes. The number of ATMs in Cyprus increased slightly from 397 at the end of H1 2024 to 405 by H1 2025, largely due to installations in remote and mountainous areas aimed at maintaining cash accessibility. About 72% of ATMs now support contactless transactions. Despite an overall 12% decline in ATM numbers over the past five years in both Cyprus and the broader euro area, the average withdrawal amount in Cyprus rose by 28%, climbing from €291 in H1 2022 to €372 in H1 2025.

Overall, the data points to a steady shift toward digital and credit-based payments in both Cyprus and the wider European market, while cash and traditional instruments continue to play a smaller but still visible role in everyday financial behavior.

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EU Services Production Grows As Information And Communication Lead

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

November 10, 2026

Services production continued to expand across the European Union in August 2026, with information and communication recording the strongest annual growth. However, performance varied significantly between industries and member states, while Cyprus reported a mixed picture, with business services expanding and hospitality-related activities declining.

Information And Communication Leads Sector Growth

Compared with August 2025, services production increased by 5.9% in the euro area and 5.8% across the EU in information and communication. Transportation and storage also recorded growth, rising by 2.1% and 1.9%, respectively.

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Real estate activities increased by 1.6% in the euro area and 1.1% in the EU. Professional, scientific and technical activities grew by 1% in both areas, while administrative and support services advanced by 1.1% and 1.3%.

Accommodation and food services was the only major sector to record an annual decline, falling by 0.1% in both the euro area and the EU.

The monthly figures were more mixed. Information and communication remained the strongest performer, increasing by 1.2% in the euro area and 1% across the EU. Real estate activities rose by 0.4% and 0.9%, respectively, while transportation and storage edged up 0.1% in the euro area but declined by 0.2% in the EU.

Administrative and support services recorded modest gains of 0.2% in the euro area and 0.1% in the EU. Accommodation and food services fell by 0.3% and 0.4%, while professional, scientific and technical activities declined by 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively.

Slovakia And Greece Record Strongest Annual Growth

Romania recorded the largest monthly increase in services production, at 5.2%, followed by Malta at 1.8% and Portugal at 1.7%. Luxembourg experienced the steepest decline, with output falling by 5.1%, followed by Bulgaria at 2.3% and Denmark at 1.9%.

On an annual basis, Slovakia led with growth of 10%, followed by Greece at 9.3% and Malta at 7.5%. Hungary recorded the weakest performance, with services production declining by 5.6%. Denmark fell by 5.3%, while Italy recorded a smaller decrease of 0.3%.

Cyprus Sees Growth In Business Services But Weakness In Hospitality

Cyprus’ latest figures show a similar divide between expanding business services and weaker hospitality-related activities. According to the Statistical Service of Cyprus (Cystat), professional, scientific and technical activities recorded the strongest annual growth among the covered sectors in the second quarter of 2026, increasing by 3.4%.

Transportation and storage and information and communication both grew by 2.1%, while real estate activities rose by 1.6%. In contrast, accommodation and food services declined by 3.1% year on year, and administrative and support services fell by 2.2%.

First-half results were more favourable for several sectors. Between January and June, professional, scientific and technical activities grew by 3.5%, transportation and storage by 2.8%, real estate by 2.1% and information and communication by 1.3%.

Nevertheless, administrative and support services contracted by 1% over the six-month period, while accommodation and food services declined by 0.7%.

How Cyprus’ Figures Differ From Eurostat’s Data

The Eurostat and Cystat figures measure different aspects of economic activity and are not directly comparable. Eurostat’s services production index tracks changes in the volume of output, whereas Cystat’s Turnover Value Index for Services and Transport measures the value of sales at current prices.

The reporting periods also differ: Eurostat’s figures cover August, while the cited Cypriot data relate to the second quarter and first half of 2026.

Cystat transmits services production data to Eurostat but does not yet publish a separate national production index. Turnover figures therefore remain the main publicly available national indicator for the sector.

Taken together, the data point to continued growth in several of Cyprus’ business-oriented services, alongside persistent pressure on accommodation, food and administrative support activities.

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