Cyprus card spending up 11% in 2011

Despite a year of falling car sales and weak retail trade, local credit and debit card spending rose by 11% in 2011, according to the latest figures from JCC Payment Systems.
Total spending in Cyprus, using plastic cards issued in Cyprus, reached EUR 2,205,535,632 (EUR 2.2 bln) in 2011, or around 12% of GDP, a rise of 11% on 2010, according to JCC.
Spending in December alone rose by 12% compared with the year earlier to EUR 256.1 mln.
Spending by tourists performed almost as well as that of locals. It rose by 10% for the whole year to EUR 473,167,413 (EUR 473.2 mln) and by 12% in December alone to EUR 22.6 mln.
Spending and withdrawals abroad, which includes spending on foreign internet sites using locally issued cards, rose by 10% to EUR 1,284,903,167 (EUR 1.3 bln) in 2011 and by 12% to EUR 22.6 mln in December alone.
www.sapientaeconomics.com