Halloumi is Cyprus’ main commodity

Halloumi cheese is by far the biggest single product of the Cypriot economy, as the 2020 statistics on sales of industrial commodities by type showed last week.

The main protected-origin product of the island accounted for 42,200 tons of produce in 2020 with a value of 285.5 million euros, according to the data the Cyprus Statistics Service (CyStat) published last week.

In total the sales of commodities produced by industrial units in Cyprus in 2020 reached €3.41 billion, compared to €3.51 billion in 2019, registering a decrease of 2.8%, which can be attributed to the coronavirus lockdowns.

Besides halloumi, the sales from the local industrial units of some indicative products were as follows in 2020: Pasteurized milk and fresh cream came to 63.0 million liters with a value of €77.5 million, fresh fruit juice 50,800 tons with a value of €31.8 million, prepared meat products €39.3 million, fresh bakery and pastry products €244.3 million, beer 31.1 million liters valued at €32.3 million, wine 8.6 million liters valued at €25 million, soft drinks 8.1 million liters with a value of €10.6 million, apparel €9.5 million, pharmaceutical products €335 million, and cement €104.3 million.