Tourist arrivals in Cyprus reached 581,880 in August 2026, marking a 3.3% decline from 602,026 in the same month the previous year, according to data released by government portals. From January through August 2026, arrivals totaled 2,820,649, a 7.0% decrease compared to 3,034,155 in the equivalent period of 2025.
Tourist Arrivals by Country of Origin
Visitors from the United Kingdom accounted for the largest share of arrivals in August 2026, representing 30.5% with 177,603 tourists. Israel followed with 23.3% (135,628), while Poland contributed 6.3% (36,622). Germany and Sweden made up 4.4% (25,823) and 3.0% (17,441) respectively.
Purpose of Tourist Travel in August 2026
Among tourists arriving in August 2026, 84.5% traveled for holiday
reasons, down from 86.5% in August 2025. Those visiting friends and relatives comprised 13.0%, an increase from 11.4% the previous year. Business travelers made up 2.4% of visitors, compared to 2.1% in August 2025.
Resident Returns and Travel Purposes
In August 2026, 239,337 residents of Cyprus returned home from travels abroad, a slight rise of 0.3% over 238,740 returns recorded in August 2025. Greece was the top country of return for residents, representing 36.6% with 87,684 people, followed by the United Kingdom at 6.9% (16,448), Italy at 4.6% (11,054), Poland at 4.3% (10,408), and Russia at 4.2% (10,021).
Holiday purposes predominated residents’ travel intentions, accounting
for 93.1% of trips in August 2026. Business trips comprised 5.9%, studies 0.8%, and other motives 0.2%.
Data were gathered through passenger surveys at Larnaka and Pafos airports and supplemented by administrative sources, including monthly port arrival figures. The recorded figures cover travels through government-controlled ports and airports, excluding the occupied areas of Cyprus. Weighting of data incorporated statistics from the Civil Aviation Department, ship manifests, and the Analysis and Statistics Office of the Cyprus Police.
