Cyprus ranks high among EU Member States in terms of purchasing services from abroad, according to data published by Eurostat.
More specifically, Cyprus ranks second among Member States in cross-border supply of services with 43.8%, behind Greece (68.8%), while Sweden is in third place with 37.7%, followed by Denmark (37.4%).
According to Eurostat, at EU level in 2024, Member States imported services worth €3.471 trillion from countries outside the EU.
As stated, the majority of services (58.9%, €2.044 trillion) were imported through commercial presence within the country, that is, via subsidiaries of foreign enterprises. Cross-border supply of services accounted for 31.3% of imports (€1.087 trillion), consumption abroad for 6.6% (€229 billion), and the presence of natural persons for 3.2% (€111 billion).
It is noted that in 22 EU countries, the majority of service imports took place through commercial presence in their territory. The highest shares were recorded in Bulgaria (81.7%), Hungary (78.1%) and Spain (74.5%).
Consumption of services abroad made a significant contribution in Denmark, where it accounted for 22.3% of imports. Significant shares were also recorded in France (12.1%), Lithuania (10.8%), Croatia (10.4%) and Italy (10.3%). In the remaining EU countries, consumption abroad accounted for less than 10% of total imports.
As regards the presence of natural persons in services imports, Cyprus ranks first jointly with Denmark at 7.3%, while Belgium follows with 5.4%.
(Source: CNA)
