The number of unpaid cheques in Cyprus fell by almost half in July 2026 compared with the same month last year. According to data from the Central Bank of Cyprus, 16 unpaid cheques with a total value of €40,799 were added to the preliminary list of the Central Information Register (CIR).
By comparison, 30 cheques worth €42,715 were recorded in July 2025, while in July 2024 there were 36 cheques with a total value of €60,416. This means that the number of such cases has more than halved over the past two years.
What the 2026 statistics show
According to the Central Bank of Cyprus, 70 unpaid cheques with a total value of €94,551 were added to the preliminary CIR list between January and July 2026. During the same period a year earlier, 50 cheques worth €84,555 were recorded. In other words, the total number of cheques increased despite the noticeable decline in July. The unpaid cheques recorded between January and July 2026 were associated with a total of 70 persons: 48 legal entities and 22 individuals.
How many people were added to the register?
In July 2026 alone, information on nine persons was added to the CIR. Of these:
- 4 were legal entities;
- 1 was an individual;
- 4 were individuals controlling legal entities.
Overall, 69 persons were added to the Central Information Register between January and July 2026. By comparison, the figure for the same period of 2025 was 63. Therefore, despite the decline in the number of unpaid cheques in July, the total number of persons entered in the register since the beginning of the year was higher than a year earlier.
What this means for businesses and individuals
An unpaid cheque occurs when a bank is unable to process the payment, for example because there are insufficient funds in the account. Registration of such cases in the Central Information Register is used by financial institutions when assessing payment discipline and financial risk.
The July statistics show a positive trend in terms of the number of unpaid cheques. However, the figures for the first seven months of the year indicate that the problem has not disappeared entirely. The total value of registered unpaid cheques in 2026 has already exceeded the figure for the same period last year — €94,551 compared with €84,555.