Nicosia:Economic sentiment in Cyprus saw an improvement for the sixth month in a row in September 2026, as indicated by the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI-CypERC) from the Economic Research Centre of the University of Cyprus, which rose by 0.6 points compared to August.

According to Cyprus News Agency, this improvement was primarily due to marginal enhancements in business sentiment across all sectors, with the exception of retail trade.

The Services Confidence Indicator increased for the third consecutive month, with September's rise linked to upward revisions in turnover expectations. Conversely, the Retail Trade Confidence Indicator fell, as businesses reported more negative assessments of recent sales and adjusted their sales forecasts downward.

The Construction Confidence Indicator saw a slight rise, aided by a positive shift in both current order book evaluations and employment expectations. The Industry Confidence Indicator also experienced a modest increase, driven by improved opinions regarding current overall order books and stocks of finished products, despite a notable decline in production expectations.

In contrast, the Consumer Confidence Indicator dropped as consumers grew more pessimistic about their future financial situations and showed less inclination towards making major purchases. Despite this, consumers exhibited stronger intentions to save in September.

The Economic Uncertainty Indicator for Cyprus rose significantly, attributed to heightened business uncertainty, especially among service sector firms. In contrast, consumer uncertainty continued to decrease, reaching very low levels across all income categories.