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Policy profile on 12 axes

How Cyprus Is Governed

Cyprus is a unitary state that scores 0.66 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 40% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty is abolished and same-sex couples can form civil unions or partnerships. Below: the laws, institutions and public spending of Cyprus, scored on the same 12 axes as the test, with every indicator and source.

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Policy profile

The 12 axes, indicator by indicator

This profile describes the country's policy regime (laws, institutions and public spending) from published indices, not the views of its people or its current leaders. Data as of October 2026; each value shows its own year.

Ownership+0.50PublicPrivate4 indicators and sources
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): Typical of OECD economies: state utilities, rail, post, some energy (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Property Rights (0-100): 85.1 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Investment Freedom (0-100): 70 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Financial Freedom (0-100): 60 (2026). Source
Markets+0.45PlannedFree5 indicators and sources
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Business Freedom (0-100): 82.3 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Labor Freedom (0-100): 60.3 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Monetary Freedom (0-100): 78.7 (2026). Source
  • Regulatory Quality, estimate (-2.5 to 2.5): 0.85 (2025). Source
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): Typical of OECD economies: state utilities, rail, post, some energy (2026). Source
Welfare-0.10SharedSelf-reliant3 indicators and sources
  • General government total expenditure (% of GDP): 40.24 (2025). Source
  • Domestic general government health expenditure (% of GDP): 6.23 (2023). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Tax Burden (0-100): 80.8 (2026). Source
Authority-0.60DemocraticStrong leader2 indicators and sources
  • Liberal Democracy Index (0-1): 0.66 (2025). Source
  • Judicial constraints on the executive (0-1): 0.85 (2025). Source
Security-0.50LibertyOrder4 indicators and sources
  • Freedom in the World civil liberties score (0-60): 52 (2025). Source
  • World Press Freedom Index score (0-100): 56.91 (2026). Source
  • Death penalty status: Abolished for all crimes (2025). Source
  • Prison population per 100,000 people: 114 (2025). Source
Structure+1.00LocalCentral2 indicators and sources
  • Territorial form of the state: Unitary state (2025). Source
  • Strong elected regional governments index (0-1): 0 (2025). Source
Morality-0.65ProgressiveTraditional3 indicators and sources
  • Same-sex marriage law (0 marriage, 1 civil union or partnership, 2 no recognition, 3 constitutional or statutory ban): Civil union or partnership (2026). Source
  • Abortion law: On request (within a gestational limit) (2025). Source
  • Women, Business and the Law: Legal Framework Index (0-100): 88.35 (2025). Source
Religion+0.45SecularReligious2 indicators and sources
  • Religion and the state: Established or official religion, or religious law in part of the territory or courts (2025). Source
  • Blasphemy or religious-insult law in force: In force (2025). Source
Technology+0.45EmbraceCaution3 indicators and sources
  • Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 0.68 (2023). Source
  • Nuclear power policy: No nuclear power, no legal ban (2025). Source
  • Genetically modified crop cultivation: Cultivation banned or opted out (2025). Source
Culture-0.05MulticulturalNational identity4 indicators and sources
  • International migrant stock (% of population): 14.88 (2024). Source
  • Citizenship by birth in the territory: None: citizenship by descent only (2025). Source
  • Residence required for ordinary naturalization (years; 0 = no ordinary route): 7 years (2025). Source
  • Dual citizenship for naturalizing adults: Allowed (2025). Source
Trade-0.75GlobalProtected4 indicators and sources
  • Tariff rate, applied, weighted mean, all products (%): 1.33 (2022). Source
  • Tariff rate, applied, simple mean, all products (%): 1.95 (2022). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Trade Freedom (0-100): 79.4 (2026). Source
  • Trade (exports + imports) (% of GDP): 189.5 (2025). Source
Foreign policy-0.35CooperationStrength5 indicators and sources
  • Military expenditure (% of GDP): 1.61 (2025). Source
  • Military conscription: Universal compulsory service (2025). Source
  • Nuclear weapons status (0 none, 1 considers, 2 pursues, 3 possesses): No nuclear weapons program (2023). Source
  • Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: State party (2026). Source
  • Collective defense commitments: Other mutual defense commitment only (EU Treaty art. 42.7, Rio Treaty, Arab League treaty, bilateral pact) (2026). Source

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Policy neighbours

Governed most like Cyprus

Every other country with a profile, tinted by how close its laws, institutions and public spending are to those of Cyprus on the same 12 axes. The percentage uses the 12 Axes match formula.

  1. 1Malta87%
  2. 2Lithuania86%
  3. 3Bulgaria84%
  4. 4Greece84%
  5. 5Iceland84%
Least similarVenezuela44%
World map of countries by how similar their policy regime is to CyprusClosest: 1. Malta 87%, 2. Lithuania 86%, 3. Bulgaria 84%, 4. Greece 84%, 5. Iceland 84%, 6. Portugal 84%, 7. Ireland 81%, 8. Latvia 81%, 9. Luxembourg 81%, 10. Croatia 80%. Least similar: Venezuela 44%. Every country is in the list after the map.Cyprus
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FAQ

Cyprus: questions

How is Cyprus governed, on the 12 axes?

Cyprus is a unitary state that scores 0.66 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 40% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty is abolished and same-sex couples can form civil unions or partnerships. Its policy regime leans furthest toward Central on Structure (+1.00), Global on Trade (-0.75) and Progressive on Morality (-0.65), on a scale from -1 to +1.

Which countries are governed most like Cyprus?

On the same 12 axes, the closest policy regimes are Malta (87%), Lithuania (86%) and Bulgaria (84%). The furthest is Venezuela (44%). Matches use the same formula as the 12 Axes test.

Where does the data on Cyprus come from?

From 41 indicators dated 2022 to 2026, published by V-Dem, Freedom House, the Heritage Foundation, the IMF, the OECD, the World Bank, SIPRI, Reporters Without Borders, the World Prison Brief, UN DESA and others. Among them: a press freedom score of 56.9 out of 100 (RSF, 2026), 114 prisoners per 100,000 people (2025), military spending of 1.6% of GDP (SIPRI, 2025) and 15% of residents born abroad (UN DESA, 2024). Every value, year and source is listed in the profile above.

Does the profile describe what people in Cyprus think?

No. It describes the policy regime: laws, institutions and public spending. It does not measure public opinion or the speeches of the current government. To see which country is governed closest to your own views, take the 12 Axes test and open the country match on your result.

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