Cyprus professional services gain ground as hotel turnover falls

Turnover across Cyprus’ services and transport sectors moved in different directions during the second quarter of 2026, with professional services posting the strongest growth while accommodation and administrative support activities declined. According to the statistical service (Cystat), professional, scientific and technical activities recorded a 3.4 per cent increase compared with the same quarter of 2025. Transport and storage activities and information and communication both rose by 2.1 per cent, while real estate activities increased by 1.6 per cent. By contrast, accommodation and food service activities declined by 3.1 per cent, while administrative and support service activities fell by 2.2 per cent. During the first six months of 2026, professional, scientific and technical activities recorded the strongest overall increase, rising by 3.5 per cent compared with the corresponding period of 2025. Transport and storage activities were up by 2.8 per cent, followed by real estate activities at 2.1 per cent and information and communication at 1.3 per cent. However, administrative and support service activities declined by 1 per cent, while accommodation and food service activities fell by 0.7 per cent. In terms of index levels, accommodation and food service activities remained the highest among the main sectors, despite the quarterly decline, reaching 221.9 points compared with 229 points a year earlier. Information and communication followed at 184.9 points, up from 181 points, while administrative and support service activities stood at 173.4 points, compared with 177.3 points in the second quarter of 2025. Transport and storage reached 151.1 points, up from 147.9 points, while real estate activities rose to 150.1 points from 147.8 points. Professional, scientific and technical activities recorded an index of 146.1 points, compared with 141.4 points a year earlier. In transport and storage, the overall 2.1 per cent rise was supported mainly by land transport and transport via pipelines, which increased by 8.3 per cent. Warehousing and support activities for transportation rose by 1.9 per cent, while postal and courier activities increased by 1.1 per cent. However, water transport declined by 5.9 per cent, while air transport fell by 5.8 per cent compared with the second quarter of 2025. The picture was stronger over the first half of the year, when transport and storage turnover increased by 2.8 per cent. Land transport and transport via pipelines rose by 7.8 per cent during the six-month period, while air transport remained 3.9 per cent higher despite its second-quarter decline. Warehousing and support activities increased by 2.4 per cent, while water transport fell by 5.8 per cent and postal and courier activities declined by 0.3 per cent. In accommodation and food services, turnover fell by 3.1 per cent overall during the quarter. The decline came entirely from accommodation, where turnover dropped by 10.1 per cent, while food and beverage service activities increased by 4.5 per cent. During the first half of 2026, accommodation and food service activities recorded a smaller overall decline of 0.7 per cent. Accommodation turnover was down by 8.1 per cent over the six months, while food and beverage service activities rose by 4.6 per cent. Information and communication activities increased by 2.1 per cent, supported by a sharp 57.5 per cent rise in information service activities. Publishing activities rose by 0.4 per cent, while computer programming, consultancy and related activities increased by 0.3 per cent. These gains were partly offset by a 19.2 per cent decline in motion picture, video and television programme production, sound recording and music publishing. Programming and broadcasting activities fell by 2.5 per cent, while telecommunications declined by 0.3 per cent. For the first six months of the year, information and communication turnover increased by 1.3 per cent. Information service activities posted the strongest increase, rising by 47.6 per cent, while publishing activities were up by 0.1 per cent and telecommunications by 0.3 per cent. However, motion picture, video and television programme production, sound recording and music publishing fell by 18.5 per cent. Programming and broadcasting activities declined by 0.9 per cent, while computer programming, consultancy and related activities were down by 0.7 per cent. Professional, scientific and technical activities expanded by 3.4 per cent during the quarter. Within the sector, architectural and engineering activities, including technical testing and analysis, increased by 9 per cent. Advertising and market research rose by 7.2 per cent, while legal and accounting activities were up by 4.6 per cent. At the same time, other professional, scientific and technical activities declined by 8.8 per cent, while activities of head offices and management consultancy services fell by 0.7 per cent. During the first half of 2026, professional, scientific and technical activities recorded an overall increase of 3.5 per cent. Architectural and engineering activities rose by 11.8 per cent, advertising and market research by 7.5 per cent and legal and accounting activities by 3.9 per cent. By contrast, other professional, scientific and technical activities fell by 7.6 per cent, while head office and management consultancy activities declined by 0.6 per cent. Administrative and support service activities recorded an overall decline of 2.2 per cent during the second quarter. Travel agency, tour operator reservation services and related activities posted the sharpest fall, dropping by 13.8 per cent. Rental and leasing activities declined by 9.4 per cent, while employment activities fell by 1.4 per cent. However, office administrative, office support and other business support activities increased by 3.4 per cent. Security and investigation activities rose by 2.3 per cent, while services to buildings and landscape activities were up by 2.2 per cent. For the first half of the year, administrative and support service activities declined by 1 per cent. Travel agency and related reservation services fell by 13.5 per cent, rental and leasing activities by 4.3 per cent and employment activities by 1.5 per cent. Security and investigation activities increased by 3.5 per cent, services to buildings and landscape activities by 2.3 per cent and office administrative and business support activities by 2.1 per cent. Finally, real estate activities rose by 1.6 per cent during the second quarter and by 2.1 per cent over the first six months of 2026.