Cyprus/Economy

Economy - overview: Economic affairs are dominated by the division of the country into the southern (Greek) area controlled by the Cyprus Government and the northern Turkish Cypriot-administered area. The Greek Cypriot economy is prosperous but highly susceptible to external shocks. Erratic growth rates in the 1990s reflect the economy's vulnerability to swings in tourist arrivals, caused by political instability on the island and fluctuations in economic conditions in Western Europe. Economic policy in the south is focused on meeting the criteria for admission to the EU. As in the Turkish sector, water shortage is a growing problem, and several desalination plants are planned. The Turkish Cypriot economy has about one-fifth the population and one-third the per capita GDP of the south. Because it is recognized only by Turkey, it has had much difficulty arranging foreign financing, and foreign firms have hesitated to invest there. The economy remains heavily dependent on agriculture and government service, which together employ about half of the work force. Moreover, the small, vulnerable economy has suffered because the Turkish lira is legal tender. To compensate for the economy's weakness, Turkey provides direct and indirect aid to tourism, education, industry, etc.

GDP: Greek Cypriot area: purchasing power parity - $9 billion; Turkish Cypriot area: purchasing power parity - $820 million (1998 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: Greek Cypriot area: 3.0%; Turkish Cypriot area: 5.3% (1998 est.)

GDP - per capita: Greek Cypriot area: purchasing power parity - $15,400; Turkish Cypriot area: purchasing power parity - $5,000 (1998 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: Greek Cypriot area: agriculture 6.3%, industry 22.4%, services 71.3%; Turkish Cypriot area: agriculture 11.8%, industry 20.5%, services 67.7% (1998)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): Greek Cypriot area: 2.3% (1998 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: 66% (1998 est.)

Labor force: Greek Cypriot area: 289,400; Turkish Cypriot area: 80,200 (1998)

Labor force - by occupation: Greek Cypriot area: services 66.6%, industry 23.2%, agriculture 10.2% (1998); Turkish Cypriot area: services 55.4%, industry 21.6%, agriculture 23% (1997)

Unemployment rate: Greek Cypriot area: 3.3% (1998 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: 6.4% (1997)

Budget:
revenues: Greek Cypriot area - $2.9 billion (1998); Turkish Cypriot area - $171 million (1997 est.)
expenditures: Greek Cypriot area - $3.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $345 million (1998); Turkish Cypriot area - $306 million, including capital expenditures of $56.8 million (1997 est.)

Industries: food, beverages, textiles, chemicals, metal products, tourism, wood products

Industrial production growth rate: Greek Cypriot area: 2.4% (1998); Turkish Cypriot area: 5.1% (1997)

Electricity - production: Greek Cypriot area: 2.675 billion kWh; Turkish Cypriot area: NA kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: Greek Cypriot area: 2.488 billion kWh; Turkish Cypriot area: NA kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1998)

Agriculture - products: potatoes, citrus, vegetables, barley, grapes, olives, vegetables

Exports: Greek Cypriot area: $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: $63.9 million (f.o.b., 1998)

Exports - commodities: Greek Cypriot area: citrus, potatoes, grapes, wine, cement, clothing and shoes; Turkish Cypriot area: citrus, potatoes, textiles (1998)

Exports - partners: Greek Cypriot area: UK 14.5%, Russia 14.5%, Greece 9.8%, Lebanon 5.5%, UAE 4.9%; Turkish Cypriot area: Turkey 47%, UK 26%, other EU 15% (1998)

Imports: Greek Cypriot area: $3.5 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: $374 million (f.o.b., 1997)

Imports - commodities: Greek Cypriot area: consumer goods, petroleum and lubricants, food and feed grains, machinery (1998); Turkish Cypriot area: food, minerals, chemicals, machinery (1997)

Imports - partners: Greek Cypriot area: US 12.5%, UK 11.3%, Italy 9.4%, Germany 8.5%, Greece 8.2% (1998); Turkish Cypriot area: Turkey 56.4%, UK 13.5%, other EU 12.2% (1997)

Debt - external: Greek Cypriot area: $1.27 billion; Turkish Cypriot area: $NA (1998)

Economic aid - recipient: Greek Cypriot area - $17 million (1998); Turkish Cypriot area - $700 million from Turkey in grants and loans (1990-97) that are usually forgiven

Currency: Greek Cypriot area: 1 Cypriot pound = 100 cents; Turkish Cypriot area: 1 Turkish lira (TL) = 100 kurus

Exchange rates: Cypriot pounds per US$1 - 0.5688 (January 2000), 0.5423 (1999), 0.5170 (1998), 0.5135 (1997), 0.4663 (1996), 0.4522 (1995); Turkish liras (TL) per US$1 - 545,584 (January 2000), 418,783 (1999), 260,724 (1998), 151,865 (1997), 81,405 (1996), 45,845.1 (1995)

Fiscal year: calendar year