Less lamb, more pork but meat consumption steady

The hike in the price of meat this year has pushed Cypriots to shun the usual Easter lamb and turn more to pork, which comes in around half the price of lamb per kilo.

According to data, the price of lamb has increased on average by 25 per cent, leaving it at between €8.95 – €13.80 this year compared with 2022.

Pork has also increased in price but only by around 4.5 to 5.0 per cent with the price coming in at €3.45 – €6.90 a kilo or an average of €5.89 compared with an average of €5.63 this time last year.

The switch become apparent when related to the number of animals slaughtered. Over 9,000 fewer lambs were slaughtered this year, down over 21 per cent on 2022. A total of 34,000 lambs were slaughtered for Easter 2023 compared with just over 43,000 last year.

The number of pigs sent to slaughter was 8.8 per cent more than last year at over 22,000 compared with some 20,000 last year.

An 11.7 per cent decrease was also seen in the slaughter of cattle. Last year 702 cattle were slaughtered and this year 620.

In general, however, meat consumption overall will remain at around the same levels as last year.