Cyprus services driven by suits and spooks

Investigation and security was the fastest-rising services activity by value in the first quarter of 2007, according to the Statistical Service Cystat, but when relative weights are taken into account, it is the accountants and lawyers who appear to be driving the economy.

According to the new data, the turnover value of investigation and security activities rose by 32.2% in the first quarter of 2007 and was the fastest-rising category. It is not clear why this is the case, but at a guess, it could be related to counter-terrorism activities or EU obligations to combat illegal immigration.

The second fastest rising category was industrial cleaning, up 28.7% and possibly related to rising construction, which in turn creates the need to clear up afterwards.

Labour recruitment was up 20% and advertising up 17.9%–both signs of a buoyant economy.

The category of “legal, accounting, book-keeping and auditing, tax consultancy, market research and business management” sector rose by 15.7% in the first quarter. This was not the fastest rising category. But its high index value of 206.7, combined with earlier data from gross value-added figures, suggests that it has quite a heavy weight in the overall calculation.

Thus, it was probably the lawyers and accounts, busy filing VAT returns for thousands of non-resident companies, who were the main drivers of growth in the first quarter.

 

Fiona Mullen, Sapienta Economics Ltd