Cyprus has the cleanest bathing waters across Europe, Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis said yesterday after an EU-wide report showed 99.1%of bathing waters on the island were excellent quality.

The report by the European Environment Agency put Cyprus in first place for the proportion of bathing waters with excellent quality in European countries for 2019. Austria was second place with 98.5%, followed by Malta with 97.7% and Greece with 95.7%.

According to the report, more than 21 000 bathing waters are monitored in Europe each season. In 2019, there were 113 bathing waters reported in Cyprus of which 112 or 99.1%, were classed as excellent. One was not classified. A total of 999 samples were tested.

The results are consistent with the figures from 2018, where Cyprus also scored 99.1%, up from 97.3% in 2017.