Cyprus population revised up to 862,000

The Cyprus Statistical Service has made a large upward revision to the population figure following the census conducted in October 2011.
The estimated population is now 862,000, compared with a previous official estimate in the national accounts data of 806,800.
The population in 2011 was thus 6.8% higher than previously estimated.
The figure for 2010 was revised up to 839,800 from 804,200 estimated previously.
According to the new data the population has risen at an annual average rate of 2.6% in the past 5 years and 2.0% in the past 10 years.
This is a fairly fast growth rate by EU standards and could explain Cyprus’ resistance (until very recently) to recession, as more people create more demand for food, housing and so on.
One unfortunate by-product of a larger population is that it implies Cypriots are less well off than they thought.
GDP per capita before the newly released estimates was EUR 22,014. With the new figures this drops to EUR 20,605.

Fiona Mullen
www.sapientaeconomics.com