Cypriot economy contracts by 5% in 2020 — Cystat The Cypriot economy contracted by an annual 5 per cent in 2020, beating projections for deeper recession amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a flash estimate issued on Tuesday by the Statistical Service of Cyprus (Cystat). Amid a two-month horizontal lock-down in March and April 2020, social distancing and restrictions which lead various sectors of the economy to underperform and dealt a severe hit to the tourism sector with arrivals down by an annual 84 per cent in 2020, the Cypriot output fell into negative territory after five years of growth. According to the Cystat flash estimate, growth for the Cypriot economy in the fourth quarter of 2020 amounted to -4.5 per cent compared with the respective period of last year. Seasonally adjusted the growth rate in the fourth quarter also amounted to -4.5%, Cystat said