Retail sales in Cyprus rose by 8.3% year-on-year in January 2026, slowing from a 8.9% increase in the previous month. Sales growth softened mainly for food, beverages and tobacco in specialized stores (3.4% vs 18.5% in December), especially in supermarkets (8.6% vs 8.9%), and automotive fuel (2.3% vs 3.1%). Additionally, retail sales not in stores declined sharply (-11.7% vs -4.3%), while flowers, plants, watches, jewellery, optical goods and second-hand goods remained unchanged (at -2.6%). In contrast, turnover increased faster for information and communication equipment (21.3% vs 11.7%), other household equipment (construction materials, carpets, furniture, electrical appliances, lighting) (11.5% vs 7%), and clothing and footwear (19.1% vs 14.5%). For the whole year of 2025, retail activity was 7.9% higher compared last year.