Country explorer: Cyprus

Cyprus has endured significant economic fluctuations, echoed in its varying GDP per capita, shifting distribution of population across different poverty thresholds, fluctuating unemployment rates, and changing inflation rates, demonstrating resilience and adaptability in the face of crises, comparable to the economic trajectories of other high-income and Mediterranean countries.

Cyprus has experienced steady population growth, a declining fertility rate reflective of trends in high-income countries, decreasing net migration, and an increasing life expectancy, underscoring the nation's demographic shifts towards an aging population similarly observed in its European counterparts.

Cyprus has consistently maintained universal or near-universal access to clean cooking fuels, electricity, and safely managed drinking water, and has seen gradual improvement in access to safely managed sanitation facilities, illustrating a commitment to ensuring basic needs are met at levels comparable to or exceeding those of its high-income peers.

Cyprus has consistently advanced in human development as marked by improvements in the Human Development Index, significant reductions in child mortality rates, increasing literacy rates, and enhanced learning-adjusted years of schooling, mirroring trends seen in high-income countries and outpacing regional peers like Greece and Portugal.

Cyprus has experienced a steady yet nuanced environmental transformation, marked by a slight decrease in per capita CO2 emissions, noticeable strides in renewable energy adoption with a significant increase in solar energy production, consistent reduction in freshwater resources, and a stable yet marginally increasing forest area, embodying a mix of challenges and progress similar to its Mediterranean peers.

Cyprus has witnessed significant technological advancements and innovation, marked by a substantial increase in internet usage, mobile phone subscriptions, investment in research and development, and scientific publications, aligning its growth trends closely with those of high-income countries.

Cyprus has experienced notable demographic shifts, including a significant increase in the share of the population born abroad, gradual improvements in gender equality, steadily increasing life satisfaction scores despite global economic challenges, and managing an aging population with a slowly rising age dependency ratio, illustrating its adaptation to global phenomena common among high-income countries yet with distinctive national characteristics such as a uniquely high proportion of foreign-born residents compared to peers like Greece, Malta, and Portugal.

Cyprus has experienced fluctuating but generally improving governance indicators, reflecting a blend of challenges and progress in rule of law, corruption perception, political civil liberties, and press freedom, positioning it distinctively amidst both its regional counterparts and high-income countries.