Prosperous Gateway Between East and West
The Cypriots are among the most prosperous people in the Mediterranean region. Internationally, Cyprus promotes its geographical location as a “bridge” between West and East, along with its educated English-speaking population, moderate local costs, good airline connections, and telecommunications.
Throughout the post-Independence period, Cyprus has had a record of successful economic performance, reflected in rapid growth, full employment conditions and external and internal stability. The underdeveloped economy, inherited from Colonial Rule in 1960, has been transformed into a modern economy, with dynamic services, industrial and agricultural sectors and advanced physical and social infrastructure.
Economic Oasis in the Mediterranean
Cyprus has a modern, free-market, service-based economy, where in conjunction with its effective transparent regulatory and legal framework, offers international investors and domestic businesses confidence to invest grow and prosper. The full liberalization of the capital market and the elimination of tariffs and quantitative restrictions, fully harmonized with the collective framework of EU laws and regulations, presents new promising opportunities for foreign investors.
Cyprus is classified among the high-income countries, it has a standard of living that is even higher than some other European Union member-states and the performance of the economy compares favourably with that of most other EU countries. Cyprus holds 16th place worldwide in terms of per capita income. The average annual rate of growth in the past five years was about 3.8%, while inflation stood at 2.9% and unemployment at 3.4% over that period.