Distillers Cyprus
A one-page guide to Cyprus for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Nicosia
- Official languages
- Greek, Turkish
- Currency
- Euro (EUR)
- Time zone
- UTC+2 (UTC+3 summer)
- Area
- 9,250 km²
People
- Population
- 1.4 million (2025)
- Population growth
- 0.9% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 66.7%
- Aged under 15
- 16.1%
- Aged 65 and over
- 14.9%
- Life expectancy
- 81.8 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$41.2 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$41,783 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 3.77% (2025)
- Inflation
- 0.13% (2025)
Climate
Subtropical Mediterranean, semi-arid in the north-east. Coastal winters are very mild and summers warm to hot for about eight months (coastal average about 24 C by day, 14 C at night). Rain falls mainly in winter; summers are generally dry.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- 17 (consume) / 18 (sale and service)
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 6.36 litres of pure alcohol (2020)
- What people drink
- Beer 39%, wine 30%, spirits 30% (2022)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); Wikipedia: Cyprus; World Bank Open Data API (population, area, GDP, growth, inflation); Our World in Data / WHO GHO alcohol per capita; Wikipedia: Legal drinking age; Wikipedia: KEO; Wikipedia: Zivania; Eurofiscalis - EU VAT rates (table as of 28 Sep 2026); CyLaw - Excise Duty Law 91(I)/2004 (consolidated). Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.