 Until recently there were restrictions on the import of bananas to Greece, therefore bananas were grown on the island, predominantly in greenhouses.Dairy products are important to the local economy and there are a number of speciality cheeses such as mizithra, anthotyros, and kefalotyri.The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 9.4 billion € in 2018, accounting for 5.1% of Greek economic output.