Cyprus’ ice cream exports in deep freeze

Ice cream exports from Cyprus to non-EU countries have been increasing in the past four years but remain far from the quantities exported in previous years, according to Eurostat.

At the same time imports from non-EU countries have been falling, the report said.

A total of 521kg of ice cream was exported from Cyprus to non-EU countries in 2022 worth €3,646. Imports from non-EU countries to Cyprus in the same year amounted to 9,467kg worth €53,758.

Eurostat did not provide data regarding the total production of ice cream in Cyprus because it is exempt from providing such data along with Luxembourg and Malta, due to the small size of the economy.

Luxembourg, however, did export 219,595kg of ice cream to non-EU countries in 2022 and imported 169kg. Malta, during the same period, exported 250kg of ice cream to third countries and imported 15,042kg.

Trends in the last four years – with the exception of 2020 – show an increase in exports from Cyprus to non-EU countries, and a decrease in imports from non-EU countries.

In 2019, only 97kg of ice cream worth €763 was exported from Cyprus to non-EU countries, while 46kg worth €173 were exported in 2020, some 386kg worth €1,885 was exported in 2021 and 521kg in 2022.

Exports from Cyprus to non-EU countries were significantly higher between 2010 and 2018, while quantities were inconsistent, starting from 18,746kg in 2010, dropping to 3,484kg in 2012, and decreasing gradually until 2016 when exports shot up to 17,252kg before dropping again to 484kg in 2017 and increasing for a year in 2018 to 4,160kg.

Regarding imports from non-EU countries, 2019 saw 72,245kg of ice cream imported to Cyprus, dropping to 64,364kg in 2020, some 20,576kg in 2021 and 9,467kg in 2022.

The member state with the largest share of exports of ice cream to non-EU countries was France, having exported 53 million kilos in 2022, accounting for 21 per cent of total EU ice cream exports.

France was followed by the Netherlands with 42 million kilos, Italy 31 million kilos, Germany 28 million kilos and Belgium 23 million kilos.

In total, EU countries exported 250 million kilos of ice cream to non-EU countries in 2022, worth a total of €930 million. On the other hand, imports of ice cream from non-EU countries amounted to 61 million kilos, valued at €203 million.

In 2022, the EU produced 3.2 billion litres of ice cream, marking a 5 per cent increase from the previous year.

Among the EU countries, Germany was the main producer of ice cream in 2022, producing 620 million litres, followed by France with 591 million litres and Italy 571 million litres.

As well as being the largest ice cream producer in 2022, Germany produced on average the cheapest ice cream at €1.50 per litre. France reported an average price of €1.90 per litre of ice cream, while Italy reported an average price of €2.30 per litre.

The most expensive ice cream was produced in Austria, with an average price of €7 per litre, followed by Denmark at €4.40 per litre and Finland €2.80 per litre.