Cyprus credit card spending leaps in February

Credit card spending by locals jumped in February according to data from the credit card company JCC.
Local plastic card use by Cyprus residents rose by 12% over the year earlier to EUR 156,263,219 (EUR 156 mln), having fallen by 13% in January.
The steep decline in January means that, for the first two months of the year, local card sales fell by 2% to EUR 317 mln, having fallen by 3% for the whole of 2009.
Expenditure by foreigners in Cyprus also rose in February, recording an increase of 4% over the year earlier to EUR 17.6 mln. For the first two months of the year, spending by foreigners was up by 2%.
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 183.3 mln abroad in the first two months of the year quarter, a rise of 15% 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-February (19.8% of sales volume) was spent in supermarkets.
However, the second highest proportion (18.6%) was spent on government services. Some of these, such as road tax, can now be paid online.
Clothing was third, accounting for 12.4% of purchases, while “other retailers” was fourth, accounting for 10.2% of purchases.