Nicosia: Tourism showed strong momentum in 2025, with total tourist arrivals reaching 4,534,073, marking an increase of 12.2% compared with 4,040,200 arrivals in 2024, according to data from the Statistical Service released on Monday.
According to Cyprus News Agency, on an annual basis, travel by Cyprus residents abroad also followed a positive trend, recording a significant increase. In December 2025, tourist arrivals amounted to 156,959, compared with 133,063 in December 2024, recording an increase of 18.0%. The main source of tourism for the month was Israel, accounting for 19.1% (30,020 arrivals), followed by the United Kingdom with 19.0% (29,826), Poland with 11.3% (17,779), Germany with 7.4% (11,569) and Greece with 7.3% (11,413).
In terms of the purpose of travel, 56.4% of tourists who visited Cyprus in December 2025 stated that they came for holidays, 32.0% to visit friends or relatives and 11.3% for business purposes. The corresponding figures for December 2024 were 49.6%, 37.5% and 12.7%, respectively.
Travel by Cyprus residents abroad also increased in December 2025, with trips reaching 193,007 compared with 168,022 in December 2024, reflecting a rise of 14.9%. The main countries from which Cyprus residents returned were Greece with 28.4% (54,759), the United Kingdom with 11.0% (21,224) and Poland with 6.5% (12,554).
As regards the purpose of travel of Cyprus residents, holidays accounted for the largest share at 69.3%, followed by business purposes at 14.9%, studies at 15.0% and other reasons at 0.8%.