Despite the rise of the Financial Wellbeing Index 2025 of the Financial Wellbeing Institute to 54.6 points, financial stress among households in Cyprus continues to “hit red levels”, with nearly four out of ten citizens remaining in a state of financial vulnerability or difficulty.
Specifically, according to the survey carried out by IMR/University of Nicosia with the support of Mastercard, 38.4% of Cypriots fall within the two lowest zones of financial wellbeing. Some 45.1% of respondents state that they struggle to make ends meet, confirming that daily financial pressure continues to affect a large part of households. At the same time, 26.1% consider the increased cost of living as the most significant threat to their financial security, while 48.8% rank it among the three biggest economic threats they face.
The survey classified citizens into five distinct categories of financial wellbeing:
- 15.4% of the population is characterised as “financially vulnerable”
- 23.0% as “financially in difficulty”
- 27.7% as “financially adequate”
- 20.8% as “financially secure”
- 13.1% as “financially prosperous”
The Financial Wellbeing Index measures citizens’ financial condition through three main pillars: financial resilience (50%), financial security (30%) and stress and anxiety (20%).
Financial resilience is the strongest dimension of Cypriots’ economic condition, reaching 57.4 points. It is followed by perceived financial security at 53.9 points. The stress and anxiety pillar remains the only one below the 50-point threshold, with a score of 48.8. Almost one in two citizens (49.5%) state that financial issues cause them stress and anxiety, highlighting the significant psychological dimension of financial wellbeing.
“The average household in Cyprus seems to have some reserves set aside to deal with unexpected financial situations. But at the same time, what we see is that there is financial difficulty when it comes to managing this situation with psychological ease on a daily basis,” said the president of the Financial Wellbeing Institute and professor at the Cyprus University of Technology, Panayiotis H. Andreou, speaking on the programme Show me the money on Politis 107.6 & 97.6.
He added that a portion of the population, which is not small, around 40%, appears to be experiencing what is described as “financial fragility.” Today, the indicators of the Cypriot economy are in the “green,” but if an economic crisis were to arise, a large part of the population that is at the limits of “financial fragility” would face greater difficulties, Andreou stressed.
Concerns over pensions
Concerns over retirement prospects are also at the centre of attention. Almost half of Cypriots (45.1%) state that they do not believe they will be able to maintain their current standard of living when they retire.
At the same time, citizens overestimate the level of the state pension, believing that the replacement rate of pension benefits reaches 52.3% of their salaries, while in reality the replacement rate of the Social Insurance Fund stands at around 42%.
