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Cyprus Trade Deficit Widens Amid Sharp Export Surge

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

February 9, 2026

December Trade Performance

Cyprus closed 2025 with an expanded trade deficit. While a significant increase in exports during December bolstered the country’s market stance, a marked decline in imports overshadowed these gains. According to data released by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat), total imports of goods in December 2025 fell to €1.20 billion from €1.39 billion in December 2024, representing a decrease of 13.1%. Notably, imports from other EU member states dropped to €789.30 million, and those from third countries slid to €415.10 million, from €703.40 million and €682.70 million respectively.

Significant Export Growth

Exports, however, recorded notable growth. Total export value reached €490.5 million in December 2025, up from €375.95 million in December 2024, an increase of 30.5%. Shipments to EU countries amounted to €182.7 million, while exports to third countries rose to €307.8 million from €97.0 million and €279.0 million respectively. A key factor behind the increase was the transfer of economic ownership of vessels, which climbed to €130.1 million compared with €51.4 million in the previous December.

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Year-to-Date Dynamics

Full-year data for 2025 show a mixed overall picture. Total imports for the January–December period rose to €13.55 billion from €12.58 billion in 2024, marking a 7.7% year-on-year increase. Exports reached €5.55 billion, up 7.0% from €5.19 billion the year before. As a result, the overall trade deficit widened to €8.00 billion compared with €7.40 billion in 2024.

Monthly Insights And Sectoral Highlights

Figures for November 2025 support the same trend. Total imports for the month declined to €1.04 billion from €1.16 billion a year earlier, a drop of 10.1%. In contrast, exports of domestically produced goods, including supplies for ships and aircraft, increased to €283.9 million from €244.5 million, a rise of 16.1%. Industrial product exports reached €276.6 million compared with €237.1 million, while agricultural exports edged slightly lower to €6.2 million from €6.4 million. Exports of foreign products also recorded modest gains.

Key Export Sectors

The leading domestic export categories between January and November 2025 were mineral fuels and oils at €2.19 billion, halloumi cheese at €332.2 million, and pharmaceutical products at €318.0 million. It is worth noting that the mineral fuels and oils category largely reflects goods that were imported, processed, and subsequently re-exported, which is an important factor in interpreting Cyprus’ trade structure.

Revisions And Provisional Data

The Future Forbes Realty Global Properties

by News Editor

August 24, 2026

Courts Are Still Applying Old Copyright Rules To AI

AI companies train models on enormous amounts of published material, including books, articles and academic research. Whether using that content without authors’ permission violates copyright law remains unresolved.

Much of the debate centres on fair use, which allows copyrighted material to be used without permission in certain circumstances. Courts consider factors such as the purpose of the use, how much material was involved and its impact on the original market.

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Anthropic Case Sets An Important Precedent

A major case involving Anthropic and a group of authors provided one of the clearest rulings so far. Judge William Alsup found that using copyrighted books to train AI models was lawful, comparing the process to people reading and studying literature before creating something new.

Anthropic was nevertheless ordered to pay $1.5 billion in a settlement. The penalty concerned books the company had obtained from illegal online libraries rather than the AI training itself.

For AI companies, that distinction could prove significant because it separates studying copyrighted material from directly copying it.

Competition Could Be The Key Issue

A case involving Thomson Reuters and Ross Intelligence offers a different perspective. A court ruled that Ross could not claim fair use after using Reuters’ copyrighted material to develop a competing AI-powered legal research platform.

The decision suggests courts may be less willing to consider AI training fair use when copyrighted content is used to build a product that directly competes with the original.

For authors, an unresolved question is whether AI-generated content should be considered competition for the works used to train these models.

The Law Has Yet To Catch Up

US copyright law predates generative AI by decades, leaving courts to apply old principles to new technology. Questions also remain over copyright protection for AI-generated works. In Thaler v. Perlmutter, a court ruled that material created entirely by AI cannot receive copyright protection.

Major AI companies remain involved in copyright litigation, and different courts could reach different conclusions. For now, there is no universal rule: the legality of AI training will depend on the circumstances of each case and how courts ultimately interpret copyright and fair use.