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International investors flock to Cyprus banking sector as consolidation reshapes the financial landscape

05.12.2025
The banking sector in Cyprus is undergoing profound change , and not all of it behind closed doors. The Bank of Cyprus, one of the island’s largest banks, has drawn renewed international investor interest during the recent Greek Investment Conference in London. According to its own announcement, the bank’s presentation of performance metrics and st ...

European Commission opens antitrust investigation into Meta’s WhatsApp AI policy — spotlight on competition and digital rights

05.12.2025
On 4 December 2025, the European Commission announced a formal antitrust investigation against Meta Platforms over its recent policy changes regarding AI-provider access to WhatsApp Business tools. Under new rules, Meta aims to block third-party AI chatbot providers from using WhatsApp’s Business API for delivering unsolicited AI-powered servi ...

Cyprus airports smash record: over 13 million travellers in 2025 as tourism rebounds strongly

03.12.2025
The island’s two main airports , managed by Hermes Airports , have recorded a historic milestone in 2025: more than 13 million passengers passed through since the beginning of the year. It’s the first time such a number has been reached in Cyprus’ aviation history. According to the operator, this surge comes thanks to a combination of long-term ...

Ground-breaking ultrafine particle maps in Cyprus warn of invisible air-pollution threat to public health

03.12.2025
Researchers at the Cyprus Institute recently unveiled the first global maps of ultrafine air-pollution particles (UFPs) in Cyprus , tiny airborne particles far smaller than those typically monitored (e.g. PM2.5 or PM10). UFPs are extremely small (less than 0.01 micrometers in diameter), making them invisible to the naked eye, yet dangerously ca ...

Cyprus warns of Europe-wide “affordable housing crisis” — social cohesion at risk, says Interior Minister

02.12.2025
The issue of affordable housing has taken centre stage in Cyprus’s political discourse. According to Constantinos Ioannou, Interior Minister, the lack of affordable housing is no longer just a local problem , it constitutes a “crisis affecting the whole of Europe,” with Cyprus among the countries sounding urgent alerts. In his public statements ...

Cyprus braces for surge as “three-virus cocktail” hits: new COVID variant, flu and RSV on the rise

02.12.2025
In recent days, health officials in Cyprus have sounded the alarm: the island is seeing a noticeable rise in cases of COVID-19 , partly driven by a new variant dubbed “Stratus” , while also facing increased circulation of seasonal influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). According to a leading molecular biologist, immunity acquired thro ...

yprus to Launch First Locally-Developed Satellite in 2026 with NASA & COSPAR Support — A Leap for National Space Ambitions

01.12.2025
Cyprus is embarking on a major technological milestone: the country’s first domestically developed satellite is scheduled to launch in 2026. This was announced by the Chief Scientist of the nation’s Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF). Under the project, the newly established Cyprus Space Research and Innovation Centre (C-SpaRC) , financed ...

Cyprus launches myHealth@CY — A new era of personal medical data access begins

01.12.2025
Late November 2025, Cyprus introduced a new mobile application, myHealth@CY, that allows residents to securely access their personal medical records. According to the Health Minister, the app represents a key part of the government’s digital-health transformation strategy. The app gives users immediate and secure access to their own medical dat ...

Cyprus and Lebanon sign long-awaited maritime border agreement — unlocking regional energy cooperation

28.11.2025
In a landmark development, Republic of Cyprus and Lebanon signed a maritime demarcation agreement on 26 November 2025, ending nearly two decades of delay and uncertainty. The accord was formalised in Beirut by the respective presidents of the two countries. Under the deal, the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) boundaries between Cyprus and Lebanon ...

Cyprus earmarks €75 M for migration-related measures as it gears up for EU presidency

28.11.2025
In tandem with the 2026 state budget approval, Cypriot authorities have allocated 75.3 million for migration and asylum-related measures in 2026 , a marked increase over prior years. This budget boost will fund several initiatives: it increases support for reception and accommodation centres; expands services for unaccompanied minors; and enhan ...

Cyprus’ Women in STEM Summit Highlights Systemic Barriers — Not a Lack of Talent

26.11.2025
Earlier this week, the second edition of Women in STEM Cyprus Summit , dubbed “Voices of Change” , convened more than 300 participants in the presence of political, academic, and business leaders. The event was co-organized by Women in Tech Cyprus and TechIsland, under the auspices of the President of Cyprus. Summit discussions made clear that ...

Cyprus’ 2026 Budget Blueprint: Aiming for Stability, Support for Vulnerable Households, and FinTech Growth

26.11.2025
In its newly released 2026 draft budget, the Ministry of Finance of Cyprus laid out nine major strategic objectives for the coming year , balancing fiscal discipline, economic stability, social support, and fostering innovation-led growth. Among the priorities is support for vulnerable households: a targeted, graduated electricity subsidy for e ...

Cyprus Health Minister Pledges Upgrades as Hospitals Warn New Laws Could Force Closures

24.11.2025
Tensions are rising in Cyprus’s healthcare sector. The Ministry of Health has introduced two draft amendment bills , one for private hospitals and another for the State Health Services Organisation (OKYPY) , that have sparked strong pushback. According to private hospital associations and patient groups, the proposed legislation would force ma ...

Cyprus Central Bank Lowers 2025 Growth Forecast to 3.1%, but Economy Still Shows Resilience

24.11.2025
The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) has revised down its GDP growth forecast for 2025 to 3.1%, a slight reduction from earlier projections. Despite the cut, officials emphasize that the Cypriot economy remains remarkably robust, underpinned by strong domestic demand, resilient consumer spending, and sustained investment in both infrastructure and ...

Cyprus Strengthens Environmental Education by Signing New UNESCO Memorandum

21.11.2025
Cyprus has taken a major step to deepen its environmental education efforts by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Environment Commissioner’s office and the Cyprus National UNESCO Committee. This agreement, recently formalized, will establish ongoing collaboration through joint working groups, expertise exchange, and co-organize ...

Audit Office Slams Private Event Held in Protected Natura 2000 Zone on Cyprus’ Akamas Peninsula

21.11.2025
The Cyprus Audit Office has strongly criticized authorities for permitting a private event , complete with a stage and sound system , in the Akamas area, which is part of the EU-protected Natura 2000 network. According to the Audit Office, this event was not part of any formal public or cultural festival; rather, it was a birthday party for a wealt ...

Cyprus Privatises Its Stock Exchange in a Big Tech-Driven Economic Shift

20.11.2025
Cyprus is undertaking a bold economic transformation: it plans to privatize its stock exchange while aggressively courting technology investments. Privatization Plans: The government has launched a process to sell the Cyprus Stock Exchange. They’re running an international tender to find a strategic investor, with a target to complete the sale ...

A Historic First — Leaders of Divided Cyprus to Meet on November 20

20.11.2025
After a long period of political limbo, the Greek Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides and the newly elected Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman are set to meet on November 20, 2025. This gathering marks their first face-to-face meeting since Erhürman won in October, and will take place at the United Nations envoy’s residence in the buffer zon ...

Secondary School Teachers to Strike Amid Evaluation Reform Debate

19.11.2025
A major confrontation is unfolding in Cyprus’s education sector. The secondary teachers’ union OELMEK has called for a four-hour strike on 19 November, from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., coinciding with the parliamentary Education Committee’s start of article-by-article debate on the Ministry of Education’s new teacher-evaluation regulations. The union ...

Lidl Cyprus’ 6th Wellness Camp Signals Growing Momentum for Well-Being Culture

19.11.2025
Cyprus recently witnessed its 6th Lidl Wellness Camp, held over 8–9 November 2025 at the Atlantica Aeneas Resort in Ayia Napa. This two-day event, now well-established, served more than 300 participants and focused on building practical, scientifically grounded habits for health, resilience, and mindful living. The program brought together 1 ...

EU Gives Cyprus a Vote of Confidence — But Is the Boom Sustainable?

18.11.2025
On 17 November 2025, the European Commission released its Autumn Economic Forecast, painting a very bullish picture for Cyprus’s economy. According to the forecasts, Cyprus is projected to grow by 3.4% in GDP for 2025, significantly outpacing many EU peers. This growth is primarily driven by domestic demand, investment, and service sector expor ...

Consumption Powers Growth — But Is Cyprus Too Dependent on Its Own Spending?

18.11.2025
Also on 17 November 2025, a Cypriot business commentary focused on how private consumption is the engine behind the country’s growth, according to the European Commission’s latest forecasts. The piece argues that Cyprus’s current economic strength is rooted in the domestic market: households are spending, salaries (in real terms) have grown, a ...

Cyprus Unveils Home-grown Advanced Drone & Anti-Drone Systems

13.11.2025
The Cyprus National Guard (CNG) publicly demonstrated two domestically-developed defence technologies: the THISEAS situational awareness system and the Drone Eye anti-drone vehicle-mounted system. The announcement comes under the government’s innovation initiative and reflects how Cyprus is increasingly investing in dual-use and defence tech rather ...

Wage Adjustment Deal in Limbo as Cyprus Employers, Unions Clash over Cost-of-Living Mechanism

13.11.2025
In the social-economic sphere, the long-running debate in Cyprus over the mechanism for adjusting wages in line with inflation – the so-called Automatic Tariff Adjustment (ATA) or Cost-of-Living Allowance (CoLA) mechanism – has reached a critical juncture. While the government remains optimistic about reaching a deal soon, trade unions and employer ...

Cyprus Unveils Nine-Point Digital Roadmap Ahead of EU Presidency

10.11.2025
As the Republic of Cyprus prepares to assume the six-month rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union starting 1 January 2026, its technology and communications ecosystem has unveiled a digital-tech roadmap comprising nine actionable steps. The roadmap, crafted by the trade association Computer & Communications Industry Associati ...

Cyprus Considers Raising Family Income Limit for Tax Deductions to €90 000

10.11.2025
The government of the Republic of Cyprus is actively considering raising the annual family-income ceiling for eligibility of tax-deduction benefits from the initially proposed 80,000 to around 90,000. The move was signalled by Makis Keravnos, the Finance Minister, in recent remarks that the cost of widening the eligibility is “not prohibitive”. ...

Cyprus streamlines reimbursement for overseas treatment

06.11.2025
The Republic of Cyprus’s Cabinet (Council of Ministers) has approved a new policy under which patients, and in certain cases their companions, who are referred abroad for medical treatment will benefit from significantly streamlined reimbursement procedures. The requirement to provide three flight quotations has been removed, making travel logi ...

Cyprus proposes to anchor regional stability with a new Middle-East security organisation

06.11.2025
In a noteworthy geopolitical development, Cyprus has publicly floated the creation of a regional security organisation for the Middle East, modelled on entities like NATO and the OSCE. The plan was announced by President Nikos Christodoulides during a conference in Nicosia, where he stated that Nicosia is working to “mature the necessary polit ...

Young Cypriots Spend Three Hours a Day on TikTok as Social Media Dominates News Consumption

05.11.2025
A fresh survey conducted by the University of Nicosia’s IMR unit for the Cyprus Youth Organisation (ONEK) has revealed that young people in Cyprus (ages 14-35) are spending on average nearly three hours daily on TikTok and around two hours on Instagram. 74 % of respondents indicated that social-media pages of news organisations are their main s ...

Cyprus Unveils Its First AI-Powered Interactive Museum Guide “Tefkros”

05.11.2025
In a notable step forward for digital innovation, Cyprus has introduced its first AI-powered interactive museum guide, named Tefkros. Developed by a doctoral candidate at the Cyprus University of Technology, the guide takes the form of a 3D-printed figure rather than a full humanoid robot and is designed to interact with museum visitors, answer que ...

Cyprus to install new mobile desalination units amid water crisis

03.11.2025
Confronting recurring droughts, declining reservoir levels, and the specter of climate scarcity, Cyprus is accelerating its plan to expand desalination capacity. Three new mobile desalination units are slated for installation in Episkopi, Vasilikos, and Ayia Napa by summer 2026. Simultaneously, a new permanent facility is planned for eastern Limass ...

Cyprus offers €10 million incentive to build new Limassol tech park

03.11.2025
Cyprus is stepping up its ambitions to become a regional technology hub by launching a 10 million incentive package aimed at developers of a major new science and technology park in Limassol. The proposed development, called the Pentakomo Technology Park, would occupy nearly 196,000 m² and is designed to attract tech firms, R&D operations, startups ...

Cyprus offers €65 000 grants to SMEs in tourism sector to boost cybersecurity readiness

30.10.2025
A recent announcement reveals that the Research and Innovation Foundation of Cyprus (RIF), together with the Digital Security Authority (DSA) acting as the national cybersecurity coordination centre, has launched a new Call for Proposals titled “Enhancing Cybersecurity for Small and Medium Enterprises in the Republic of Cyprus 2025 – Tourism”. The ...

Diabetes in Cyprus: Six major health risks threaten patients as strategy stalls

30.10.2025
In recent reporting from Cyprus, it is highlighted that despite the island’s adoption of a new national diabetes strategy, patients living with Diabetes mellitus are still facing significant and longstanding obstacles. According to the latest available data, some 12.7 % of the population (around 115,000 people) under the national health scheme ...

Greece and Cyprus Forge Medical Tourism Partnership to Boost Regional Health Appeal

26.10.2025
Cyprus and Greece have announced a new collaboration to strengthen ties in medical tourism, aiming to position Southern Europe as a competitive global hub for health services. The agreement was made public recently, signaling joint efforts to attract foreign patients by leveraging Cyprus’ strategic location, healthcare quality, and proximity to reg ...

Digital Nomads Eye Cyprus as Remote-Work Destination – Visa Scheme Reopens with Fresh Momentum

26.10.2025
The island of Cyprus is increasingly positioning itself as a hub for remote-working professionals, thanks to the re-opening of its Digital Nomad Visa Scheme. The scheme targets non-EU / non-EEA nationals, allowing them to reside in Cyprus while providing services remotely to companies or clients abroad. Experts say this initiative dovetails with Cy ...

Cyprus GDP Hits €34.77 Billion for 2024, Driven by ICT and Tourism Growth

26.10.2025
According to the revised national accounts released this week by the state statistical service, Cyprus’s economy achieved a real-term growth rate of 3.9 % in 2024, raising the nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to around 34.77 billion. Breaking down the contributions: The Information & Communication (ICT) sector recorded the highest growth ...

Cyprus Cabinet Approves National Strategy to Tackle Childhood Obesity via Healthy Lifestyle Changes

26.10.2025
The Cypriot Cabinet has approved a comprehensive national strategy aimed at improving the quality of life of the population by promoting healthier diets and increased physical activity. The initiative arises amid concerns that childhood obesity rates in Cyprus exceed many other European countries. The Minister of Health emphasised that major non-co ...

Local Authorities in Cyprus Face €800 Million Debt Burden, Raising State Fiscal Risks

26.10.2025
A new report has revealed that the combined long-term obligations and deficits of Cyprus’s local government authorities (municipalities) are approaching 800 million, posing a potential fiscal risk for the national government and taxpayers. Specifically, the twenty new municipalities created following the local-government reform (implemented Jul ...

Larnaca General Hospital Improves Bed Capacity—But Administrative Gaps Still Hamper Patient Care

17.10.2025
A recent parliamentary review and on-site inspection of Larnaca General Hospital revealed a mixed picture: on the one hand, the hospital has increased bed capacity and hired additional staff; on the other, it continues to grapple with administrative and procedural bottlenecks that impact service quality. Audit Office investigators flagged sever ...

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