IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cyb/wpaper/2024-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Financial Literacy in Cyprus: Results from the first comprehensive Central Bank of Cyprus survey

Author

Listed:
  • George A. Kyriacou

    (Central Bank of Cyprus)

  • Theodosis L. Kallenos

    (Central Bank of Cyprus)

  • Ioanna S. Evangelou

    (Cyprus University of Technology)

  • Lena T. Cleanthous

    (Central Bank of Cyprus)

  • Charis P. Charalambous

    (Central Bank of Cyprus)

Abstract

The paper evaluates financial literacy levels in Cyprus, drawing on data from the 2018 Financial Literacy Sampling Survey conducted by the Central Bank of Cyprus. The survey included 1,000 participants aged 18 to 79. The questionnaire covered two sections: sociodemographic information and general financial behaviour, and financial knowledge, attitude, and behaviour, based on the OECD/INFE Toolkit. A key finding of the survey was that the average financial knowledge score in Cyprus was 4.78 out of 7, falling short of the OECD's benchmark for someone to be considered as financially literate, which is 5 out of 7. The survey results highlighted specific groups in greater need of financial education, including young people, the unemployed, women, low-income individuals, those with lower educational attainment, and citizens who did not take economics courses during secondary education. Additionally, lower financial knowledge was associated with greater financial vulnerability. Notably, significant financial knowledge gaps were found in areas such as interest compounding and risk diversification. These findings were instrumental in developing Cyprus's first National Strategy to promote financial literacy and education, endorsed by the Council of Ministers in June 2022. A follow-up survey is currently underway to reassess financial literacy in Cyprus.

Suggested Citation

  • George A. Kyriacou & Theodosis L. Kallenos & Ioanna S. Evangelou & Lena T. Cleanthous & Charis P. Charalambous, 2024. "Financial Literacy in Cyprus: Results from the first comprehensive Central Bank of Cyprus survey," Working Papers 2024-2, Central Bank of Cyprus.
    • Handle: RePEc:cyb:wpaper:2024-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.centralbank.cy/images/media/pdf/2024-2.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andreou, Panayiotis C. & Anyfantaki, Sofia, 2021. "Financial literacy and its influence on internet banking behavior," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 658-674.
    2. Cupák, Andrej & Fessler, Pirmin & Schneebaum, Alyssa & Silgoner, Maria, 2018. "Decomposing gender gaps in financial literacy: New international evidence," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 102-106.
    3. Panayiotis C. Andreou & Sofia Anyfantaki & Adele Atkinson, 2023. "Financial literacy for financial resilience: evidence from Cyprus during the pandemic period," Working Papers 313, Bank of Greece.
    4. Adele Atkinson & Flore-Anne Messy, 2012. "Measuring Financial Literacy: Results of the OECD / International Network on Financial Education (INFE) Pilot Study," OECD Working Papers on Finance, Insurance and Private Pensions 15, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Azra Zaimovic & Anes Torlakovic & Almira Arnaut-Berilo & Tarik Zaimovic & Lejla Dedovic & Minela Nuhic Meskovic, 2023. "Mapping Financial Literacy: A Systematic Literature Review of Determinants and Recent Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-30, June.
    2. Elisabeth Beckmann & Sarah Reiter, 2020. "How financially literate is CESEE? Insights from the OeNB Euro Survey," Focus on European Economic Integration, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q3/20, pages 36-59.
    3. Tahira Iram & Ahmad Raza Bilal & Zeshan Ahmad & Shahid Latif, 2023. "Does Financial Mindfulness Make a Difference? A Nexus of Financial Literacy and Behavioural Biases in Women Entrepreneurs," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 12(1), pages 7-21, January.
    4. Lin, Chien-An & Bates, Timothy C., 2022. "Smart people know how the economy works: Cognitive ability, economic knowledge and financial literacy," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    5. Roxana Hatos, 2021. "Graduates On Labour Market In Romania. Precarity Or Resilience?," Oradea Journal of Business and Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 6(2), pages 21-28, September.
    6. József Banyár & Petra Turi, 2019. "The Evolution of the Insurance Consumer Protection Approach in Hungary," Public Finance Quarterly, State Audit Office of Hungary, vol. 64(2), pages 189-207.
    7. Cupák, Andrej & Fessler, Pirmin & Schneebaum, Alyssa, 2021. "Gender differences in risky asset behavior: The importance of self-confidence and financial literacy," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    8. Tzora, Vasiliki A. & Philippas, Nikolaos D. & Panos, Georgios A., 2023. "The financial capability of 15-year-olds in Greece," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    9. Yaakov Itach, 2019. "Financial Literacy Level Of High School Students And Its Economic Patterns Reflections," Almanac of PhD Students, D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics, Svishtov, Bulgaria, vol. 15(15 Year 2), pages 518-537.
    10. Gangwar, Rachna & Singh, Ritvik, 2018. "Analyzing Factors Affecting Financial Literacy and its Impact on Investment Behavior among Adults in India," MPRA Paper 89452, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Ooi, Elizabeth, 2023. "Culture and confidence in financial knowledge testing," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    12. Fujiki, Hiroshi, 2020. "Cash demand and financial literacy: A case study using Japanese survey data," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    13. Ali Coskun & Muhammed Abdullah Sahin & Alperen Zengin, 2019. "Financial Literacy in Turkey: A field study to touch base with the OECD," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 8(3), pages 01-16, May.
    14. Luo, Yu & Peng, Yuchao & Zeng, Lianyun, 2021. "Digital financial capability and entrepreneurial performance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 55-74.
    15. Marco Nieddu & Lorenzo Pandolfi, 2018. "Cutting Through the Fog: Financial Literacy and the Subjective Value of Financial Assets," CSEF Working Papers 497, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    16. Adrian Galapon & Nelson C. Bool, 2022. "Effects of financial literacy and financial behavior on the financial well-being of teachers in higher education institutions in Region 1, Philippines," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 11(9), pages 150-157, December.
    17. Erzsabet enemeth & Boglarka Zsoter, 2017. "Personality, Attitude and Behavioural Components of Financial Literacy: A Comparative Analysis," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 9(2), pages 46-57.
    18. Kadoya, Yoshihiko & Khan, Mostafa Saidur Rahim, 2020. "What determines financial literacy in Japan?," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(3), pages 353-371, July.
    19. Andrej Cupák & Pirmin Fessler & Maria Silgoner & Elisabeth Ulbrich, 2021. "Exploring Differences in Financial Literacy Across Countries: The Role of Individual Characteristics and Institutions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 409-438, December.
    20. Andrej Cupak & Pirmin Fessler & Maria Antoinette Silgoner & Elisabeth Ulbrich, 2018. "Financial literacy in Austria: a survey of recent research results," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q1/18, pages 14-26.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    financial literacy; financial behaviour; financial knowledge; financial fragility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • G1 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets
    • G53 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Financial Literacy
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cyb:wpaper:2024-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Anna Markidou (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cbcgvcy.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.