Cyprus credit card spending leapt 4% y/y in August

Credit card spending by locals kept up their pace in August according to data from the credit card company JCC.
Local plastic card use by Cyprus residents increased by 4% over the year earlier to EUR 160,131,118 (EUR 160 mln), having risen by 5% in July.
In the period January-August, credit card spending by locals was up by 3% to EUR 1.3 bln. Local card spending fell by 3% in 2009 as a whole.
Expenditure by foreigners in Cyprus jumped by rose by 9% to EUR 53 mln in July, having risen by 6% in July.
For the first eight months of the year, spending by foreigners was up by 5% to EUR 285 mln.
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 757.6 mln abroad in the first eight months of the year quarter, a rise of 13% 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-August (20.3% of sales volume) was spent in supermarkets.
The second highest proportion (11.9%) was spent on clothing.
The broad category of “other retailers” was next with 11.6% and the government was fourth with 9.0%.