The trade deficit in Cyprus rose to EUR 656.5 million in December of 2018 from EUR 492.4 million in the same month of the previous year. Exports slumped 29.7 percent from a year earlier to EUR 163.7 million, as sales declined to both non-EU countries (-30.9 percent to EUR 104.7 million) and EU countries (-27.4 percent to EUR 58.9 million). Meanwhile, imports advanced 13.1 percent to EUR 820.1 million, as purchases jumped from non-EU countries (61.8 percent to EUR 440.1 million) whereas those from EU countries decreased (-16.2 percent from EUR 380.0 million). Considering full 2018, the trade gap narrowed to EUR 4,848.8 million from EUR 5,247.8 million in 2017, as exports surged 43.0 percent to EUR 4,245.5 million while imports rose at a softer 10.7 percent to EUR 9,094.3 million. Balance of Trade in Cyprus averaged -201249.65 EUR Thousand from 1975 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 152937 EUR Thousand in March of 2018 and a record low of -925948 EUR Thousand in May of 2016.
Balance of Trade in Cyprus is expected to be -450000.00 EUR Thousand by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Balance of Trade in Cyprus to stand at -469000.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Cyprus Balance of Trade is projected to trend around -468000.00 EUR Thousand in 2020, according to our econometric models.