Eurostat: Cypriot ice cream exports to non-EU countries slowly increasing

Ice cream exports from Cyprus to non-EU countries have been increasing in the past four years, but remained far from quantities exported in previous years, while at the same time imports from non-EU countries have been reducing, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical service of the EU.

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

Eurostat does not have data regarding the total production of ice cream in Cyprus due to the fact that is exempt from providing data along with Luxembourg and Malta, due to the small size of the economy.

Luxembourg however did export 219,595 kg of ice cream to non-EU countries in 2022 (558,494 in value), and imported 169 kg (2,044 euro). Malta during the same period exported 250 kg of ice cream to third countries (920 euro in value) and imported 15,042 kg (1,084,932 euro in value).

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 97 kg of ice cream (763 euro) was exported from Cyprus to non-EU countries, while 46 kg (173 euro) were exported in 2020, 386 kg (1,885 euro) were exported in 2021 and 521 kg were exported in 2022.

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

Regarding imports from non-EU countries, 2019 saw 72,245 kg of ice cream (161,794 euro) imported to Cyprus, dropping to 64,364 kg (138,067 euro) in 2020, 20,576 kg (79,340 euro) in 2021 and 9,467 kg (53,758 euro) in 2022.

France tops list of extra-EU exports

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The member state with the largest share of exports of ice cream to non-EU countries was France, having exported 53 million kg of ice cream in 2022, accounting for 21% of total extra-EU ice cream exports. France was followed by the Netherlands (42 million kg of ice cream; 17% of total extra-EU exports), Italy (31 million kilograms; 13%), Germany (28 million kilograms; 11%) and Belgium (23 million kilograms; 9%).

In total, EU countries exported 250 million kg of ice cream to non-EU countries in 2022, worth a total of 930 million euro. On the other hand, imports of ice cream from non-EU countries amounted to 61 million kg, valued at 203 million euro. The quantity of extra-EU ice cream imports decreased by 14% in 2022, compared with 2021, while exports dropped by only 2%.

Germany was the main producer

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

Among the EU countries, Germany was the main producer of ice cream in 2022, producing 620 million litres of ice cream, followed by France (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 1.5 euro per litre. France reported an average price of 1.9 euro per litre of ice cream, while Italy reported an average price of 2.3 euro per litre of ice cream.

The most expensive ice cream was produced in Austria, with an average price of 7.0 euro per litre of ice cream, followed by Denmark (4.4 euro per litre), and Finland (2.8 euro per litre).

(Source: CNA)