Economy - overview Economic affairs are affected by the division of the country. 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 in the region and fluctuations in economic conditions in Western Europe. Economic policy is focused on meeting the criteria for admission to the EU. As in the Turkish sector, water shortages are a perennial problem; a few desalination plants are now online. The Turkish Cypriot economy has less than one-half 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. It remains heavily dependent on agriculture and government service, which together employ about half of the work force. To compensate for the economy's weakness, Turkey provides substantial direct and indirect aid to tourism, education, industry, etc.

GDP Greek Cypriot area: purchasing power parity - $9.1 billion (2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: purchasing power parity - $1.1 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate Greek Cypriot area: 2.6% (2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: 0.8% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita Greek Cypriot area: purchasing power parity - $15,000 (2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: purchasing power parity - $7,000 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector Greek Cypriot area: agriculture 4.6%, industry 19.9%, services 75.5% (2001); Turkish Cypriot area: agriculture 8.3%, industry 20.7%, services 71.0% (2000)

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: 1.9% (2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: 53.2% (2000 est.)

Labor force Greek Cypriot area: 291,000; Turkish Cypriot area: 86,300 (2000)

Labor force - by occupation Greek Cypriot area: services 73%, industry 22%, agriculture 5% (2000); Turkish Cypriot area: services 56.4%, industry 22.8%, agriculture 20.8% (1998)

Unemployment rate Greek Cypriot area: 3% (2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: 5.6% (1999 est.)

Budget
revenues: Greek Cypriot area - $2.4 billion (2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area - $294 million (2000 est.)
expenditures: Greek Cypriot area - $3.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $539 million (2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area - $495 million, including capital expenditures of $60 million (2000 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate Greek Cypriot area: 2.2% (1999); Turkish Cypriot area: -0.3% (1999)

Electricity - production 3.13 billion kWh (1999); Turkish Cypriot area: NA kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel: 100%
other: 0% (2000)
nuclear: 0%
hydro: 0%

Electricity - consumption 2.911 billion kWh (1999); Turkish Cypriot area: NA kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports 0 kWh (2000)

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

Exports Greek Cypriot area: $851 million (f.o.b., 2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: $50.7 million (f.o.b., 2000)

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

Exports - partners Greek Cypriot area: EU 36% (UK 17%, Greece 8%), Russia 8%, Syria 7%, Lebanon 5%, US 2% (2000); Turkish Cypriot area: Turkey 51%, UK 31%, other EU 16.5% (1999)

Imports Greek Cypriot area: $3.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.); Turkish Cypriot area: $424.9 million (f.o.b., 2000)

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

Imports - partners Greek Cypriot area: EU 52% (UK 11%, Italy 9%, Greece 9%, Germany 7%), US 10% (2000); Turkish Cypriot area: Turkey 59%, UK 13%, other EU 13% (1999)

Debt - external Greek Cypriot area: $NA; Turkish Cypriot area: $NA

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

Currency Greek Cypriot area: Cypriot pound (CYP); Turkish Cypriot area: Turkish lira (TRL)

Currency code CYP; TRL

Exchange rates Cypriot pounds per US dollar - 0.6518 (January 2002), 0.6427 (2001), 0.6208 (2000), 0.5423 (1999), 0.5170 (1998), 0.5135 (1997); Turkish liras per US dollar - 1,370,629 (January 2002), 1,223,140 (2001), 625,219 (2000), 418,783 (1999), 260,724 (1998), 151,865 (1997)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Cyprus on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Cyprus Economy 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Cyprus Economy 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.