Economy - overview The Greek Cypriot economy is small and prosperous, but highly susceptibleto external shocks. Industry contributes 23% to GDP and employs 25% of thelabor force, while the service sector contributes 72% to GDP and employs 62%of the labor force. Erratic growth rates in the 1990s reflect the economy'svulnerability to swings in tourist arrivals (caused by fluctuations in politicaland economic conditions in Western Europe and the Middle East) and the needfor structural changes in the economy. One bright spot has been the low rateof inflation. In 1996 Cyprus fully satisfied all the Maastricht convergencecriteria. The Turkish Cypriot economy has less than one-third the per capitaGDP of the south. Because it is recognized only by Turkey, it has had muchdifficulty arranging foreign financing, and foreign firms have hesitated toinvest there. The economy remains heavily dependent on agriculture and governmentservice, which together employ about half of the work force. Moreover, thesmall, vulnerable economy has suffered because the Turkish lira is legal tender.To compensate for the economy's weakness, Turkey provides direct and indirectaid to nearly every sector. In January 1997, Turkey signed a $250 millioneconomic cooperation accord with the Turkish Cypriot area to support tourism,education, and industry.

GDP purchasing power parity - $8.8 billion (Greek area: purchasing powerparity - $8,300,000,000; Turkish area: purchasing power parity - $536,000,000)(1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 3.4% (Greek area: 4%; Turkish area: 0.5%) (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $11,800 (Greek area: purchasing power parity- $13,700; Turkish area: purchasing power parity - $3,950) (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector Greek area: agriculture 5.3%; industry 22.7%; services 72% (1996 est.);Turkish area: agriculture 11.4%; industry 22.9%; services 65.7% (1994 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index Greek area: 3.3% (1996 est.); Turkish area: 86% (1996 est.)

Labor force
total : Greek area: 299,700
by occupation: services 62%, industry 25%, agriculture 13% (1995)
total: Turkish area: 76,500
by occupation: services 66%, industry 11%, agriculture 23% (1995)

Unemployment rate Greek area: 2.3% (1996 est.); Turkish area: 3.6% (1995 est.)

Budget
revenues: Greek area - $2.9 billion, Turkish area - $149 million
expenditures: Greek area - $3.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $453 million,Turkish area - $304 million, including capital expenditures of $20 million(1996)

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

Industrial production growth rate Greek area: -4% (1996); Turkish area: 2.6% (1992)

Electricity - capacity 690,000 kW 000 kW

Electricity - production 2.5 billion kWh

Electricity - consumption per capita 3,380 kWh (1995)

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

Exports
total value: Greek area: $1.4 billion (f.o.b., 1996);
commodities: citrus, potatoes, grapes, wine, cement, clothing and shoes
partners: Russia 17%, UK 11%, Greece 6%, Germany 5%
total value: Turkish area: $71 million (f.o.b., 1996);
commodities: citrus, potatoes, textiles
partners : UK 35%, Turkey 30%

Imports
total value: Greek area: $4 billion (f.o.b., 1996);
commodities: consumer goods, petroleum and lubricants, food and feed grains, machinery
partners: US 16%, UK 11%, Italy 9%, Germany 7%, Greece 7%, Japan 6%
total value : Turkish area: $330 million (f.o.b., 1996);
commodities: food, minerals, chemicals, machinery
partners: Turkey 53%, UK 13%

Debt - external Greek area: $1.8 billion (1996)

Economic aid Greek area: recipient - $700 million with amount declining in recentyears (1974-96 est.); Turkish area: recipient - $400 million from Turkey (1977-96 est.)

Currency 1 Cypriot pound (£C) = 100 cents; 1 Turkish lira (TL) = 100 kurus

Exchange rates Cypriot pounds per US1$ - 0.4816 (January 1997), 0.4663 (1996), 0.4522(1995), 0.4915 (1994), 0.4970 (1993), 0.4502 (1992); Turkish liras (TL) perUS$1 - 112,019 (January 1997), 81,405 (1996), 45,845.1 (1995), 29,608.7 (1994),10,984.6 (1993), 6,872.4 (1992)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Cyprus on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Cyprus Economy 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Cyprus Economy 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.