Cyprus credit card use declines 3% in 2009

Local credit card spending in the Republic of Cyprus fell by 3% in 2009, according to data from the credit card company JCC, having risen by 16% in 2008.
Local plastic card use by Cyprus residents reached EUR 1,847,481,905 (EUR 1.85 bln), compared with EUR 1.90 bln in 2008.
In December, sales fell by 2%, having stagnated in November.
Expenditure by foreigners in Cyprus has also fallen in line with dropping tourist arrivals.
Spending with non-Cyprus cards fell by 16% in 2009 to EUR 412.4 mln. In 2008 spending by non-residents fell by only 3% to EUR 491 mln.
By contrast, residents of Cyprus spent EUR 1.05 bln in 2009, a rise of 8% compared with the same period of 2008.
However, this was much lower than the 26% rise recorded in 2008.

Meanwhile, data on merchant turnover show that that the highest proportion of spending volumes in the southern part of Cyprus in 2009 (27.2%) was spent in supermarkets.
The second highest proportion (14.2%) was spent on clothing, while non-specified retailers were third at 14.1% and petrol was fourth at 11.5%.