Figures reveal falls in tourism and higher education revenues

REVENUES from the tourism and higher education sectors fell by 82.7 per cent and 36.1 per cent respectively last year as the Covid-19 pandemic took its toll.

The damage to the sectors, often referred to as the “locomotives” of the North Cyprus economy, were revealed in new “balance of payments” data released by the TRNC Statistics Institute.

Net tourism revenue fell from $954.5 million in 2019 to just $165.4 million in 2020, while the net amount of money coming into the country from higher education fell from $601.2 million in 2019 to $384 million in 2020.

Other statistics showed that there was a big increase in the value of exports during the same period, generating a net income of $106.4 million in 2020, compared to $82.5 million in 2019, a rise of 29 per cent.

The value of imports, while still dwarfing those of exports, fell by 17.4 per cent from $1,597.9 million to $1,319.6 million.

Subsequently, the foreign trade deficit decreased by 19.9 per cent from $1,515.4 million in 2019 to $1,213.2 million in 2020.

Foreign trade volume, which was $1,680.4 million in 2019, decreased by 15.1 per cent to $1,426.0 million in 2020, the TRNC Statistics Institute said.

While the ratio of exports to imports was 5.2 per cent in 2019, it was 8.1 per cent in 2020.

INCREASE IN AID FROM TURKEY

Other data showed that aid from Turkey, which was $101.9 million in 2019, rose by 47.7 per cent in 2020 to $150.5 million.

As a result of developments in the “Foreign Trade and Invisible Transactions Balance” the country’s “Current Account Balance” went from a surplus of $221.3 million in 2019 to a deficit of $379.3 million in 2020.

Foreign exchange reserves increased from $290.3 million in 2019 to $591.9 million in 2020.