The north’s economy would be in recession were it not for Greek Cypriots visiting and spending money, ‘economy minister’ Olgun Amcaoglu said on Tuesday.

“After the pandemic, if the population of people moving from southern Cyprus to northern Cyprus had not even bought a bottle of water, and if economic efforts had not been made to meet their needs, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus would have faced both a recession and a shrinking economy,” he told the north’s ‘parliament’.

“The numbers are very clear. This is what they tell us.”

He added that Greek Cypriots have been “coming to the TRNC and continuing with fuel, with the service sector, and with other shopping needs and expenses”, and that as such, the Turkish Cypriot economy has responded.

“This country’s initiative to meet those needs saw its import volume expanded by $2 billion in 2022, by $8bn in 2023, and by $4bn in 2024,” he said.

In addition, he said, this boost to the north’s economy has allowed more people in the north to find jobs.

“While the number of people in work fell from 118,000 to 88,000 during the pandemic, in the latest figures … there are 159,321 people in work, and that number will increase further still, with 60,000 work permit applications pending,” he said.

Amcaoglu’s words come as the number of crossings to the north made by Greek Cypriots have been on the decrease, with the number of crossings having fallen by 15 per cent in the final three months of last year compared to the same period in 2023.

Just 638,351 crossings were made by Greek Cypriots in the final three months of last year – down on the 751,324 crossings made by Greek Cypriots during the last three months of the year before.

The number of Greek Cypriots crossing fell by eight per cent over the entire 12 months of 2024, with 2,836,884 crossings made by Greek Cypriots last year compared to 3,063,408 the year before.

The falling numbers have come as prices of goods and services in the north have risen in recent years, with food and drinks often more expensive in the north than in the Republic.

As such, those who may have previously travelled to the north to take advantage of cheaper prices now stay in the Republic.