Cyprus credit card spending falls y/y in April

Credit card spending by locals fell in April according to data from the credit card company JCC, after a run of two months in which spending sharply.
Local plastic card use by Cyprus residents fell by 5% over the year earlier to EUR EUR 136,456,077 (EUR 136 mln) in April, having leapt by 20% in March and 12% in February.
In the period January-April, credit card spending by locals was up by only 2% to EUR 616.5 mln, owing to a steep decline in January. Local card spending fell by 3% in 2009.
Expenditure by foreigners in Cyprus stagnated in April at EUR 31.6 mln, having risen by 9% over the year earlier in March. For the first three months of the year, spending by foreigners was up by 3%.
In 2009 spending by non-residents had fallen by 16% to EUR 412 mln.
Expenditure abroad by Cypriot residents continues to record an increase.
Residents of Cyprus spent EUR 371.5 mln abroad in the first two months of the year quarter, a rise of 14% compared with the same period of 2009.

Most credit card spending goes on supermarkets

Meanwhile, data on merchant turnover show that that by far the highest proportion of spending in January-April (20.9% of sales volume) was spent in supermarkets.
However, the second highest proportion (13.9%) was spent on government services. Some of these, such as road tax, can now be paid online.
Clothing was third, accounting for 12.3% of purchases, while “other retailers” was fourth, accounting for 10.8% of purchases.