Tourist arrivals and returns of residents of Cyprus from trips abroad: May 2025
From:
Tourist Arrivals 13,7% and Returns of Residents of Cyprus -0,5%
Tourist Arrivals
The arrivals of tourists reached 479.160 in May 2025 compared to 421.400 in May 2024, recording an increase of 13,7%. For the period of January – May 2025, arrivals of tourists totaled 1.344.486 compared to 1.170.214 in the corresponding period of 2024, recording an increase of 14,9%.
Arrivals from the United Kingdom were the main source of tourism for May 2025, with a share of 37,4% (179.150) of total arrivals, followed by Israel with 9,4% (45.249), Poland with 7,7% (36.800), Germany with 6,2% (29.938), Sweden with 4,8% (22.924) and Greece with 3,7% (17.591) (Table 1).
| Table 1 | ||||
| Country of Usual Residence | Tourist Arrivals | |||
| May | Percentage Change (%) May 2025/24 | |||
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | ||
| TOTAL | 420.076 | 421.400 | 479.160 | 13,7 |
| Austria | 9.078 | 7.416 | 8.773 | 18,3 |
| France | 10.027 | 9.214 | 9.957 | 8,1 |
| Germany | 25.916 | 27.081 | 29.938 | 10,5 |
| Denmark | 7.557 | 7.286 | 8.635 | 18,5 |
| Switzerland | 7.783 | 6.049 | 7.249 | 19,8 |
| Greece | 15.190 | 17.745 | 17.591 | -0,9 |
| United Kingdom | 153.797 | 167.696 | 179.150 | 6,8 |
| Israel | 37.442 | 33.138 | 45.249 | 36,5 |
| Lebanon | 3.425 | 3.532 | 3.093 | -12,4 |
| Norway | 6.862 | 8.253 | 7.656 | -7,2 |
| Netherlands | 5.357 | 7.073 | 8.078 | 14,2 |
| Hungary | 7.678 | 4.368 | 5.517 | 26,3 |
| Poland | 30.835 | 31.849 | 36.800 | 15,5 |
| Romania | 8.304 | 7.943 | 8.411 | 5,9 |
| Sweden | 21.837 | 20.103 | 22.924 | 14,0 |
| Other | 68.988 | 62.654 | 80.139 | 27,9 |
For a percentage of 81,2% of tourists, the purpose of their trip in May 2025 was holidays, for 11,1% visit to friends and relatives and for 7,6% business. Respectively, in May 2024, 83,7% of tourists visited Cyprus for holidays, 9,8% visited friends or relatives and 6,3% visited Cyprus for business reasons (Table 2).
| Table 2 | |||
| Purpose of Visit | Percentage (%) | ||
| May 2023 | May 2024 | May 2025 | |
| Holidays | 82,1 | 83,7 | 81,2 |
| Visiting friends & relatives | 11,3 | 9,8 | 11,1 |
| Business | 6,5 | 6,3 | 7,6 |
Returns of Residents of Cyprus
A total number of 143.296 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in May 2025 compared to 144.042 in the corresponding month last year, recording a decrease of 0,5%. The main countries from which residents of Cyprus returned in May 2025 were Greece with a share of 28,3% (40.494), the United Kingdom with 8,1% (11.555) and Italy with 7,1% (10.202).
The purpose of travel for the residents of Cyprus in May 2025 was mainly holidays, with a percentage of 66,9%, whilst business reasons held a percentage of 29,7%, studies 2,3% and other reasons 1,1%.
Methodological Information
Definitions
Tourists: Visitors who stay for at least one night in Cyprus.
Tourist arrivals: The term refers to the number of trips and not to the number of persons. This differs in the sense that one person can take more than one trips during the reference period.
Residents of Cyprus: This category includes persons who have resided in Cyprus for at least 12 months or who have come to Cyprus with the intention of staying for at least 12 months, prior to their travel.
Source of Data and Coverage
The data are obtained from the Passengers Survey which is carried out at the points of arrival in Larnaka and Pafos airports. Additionally, data are also collected from administrative sources, such as the monthly arrivals from ports.
The data covers all persons who pass through passport control at the ports and airports in the Government controlled area of Cyprus. It does not include travelers who arrive and depart illegally via ports and airports in the occupied part of Cyprus.
The weighting was conducted based on the data sent to the Statistical Service by the Civil Aviation Department and from the ship manifests, as well as on the data sent by the Analysis and Statistics Office of the Cyprus Police.
For more information, visit CYSTAT Portal, subtheme Tourism, CYSTAT-DB (Online Database), Predefined Tables (Excel), Methodological Information or contact Ms Lucy Panayidou at 22602152 or via email: lpanagidou@cystat.mof.gov.cy.
The Predefined Tables available in Excel format, include data up to December 2024. As of January 2025, data will only be available in the Online Database CYSTAT-DB.
(NZ/KA)