Consumer prices rising, price report shows

Significant increases were seen in the price of fresh meat, seafood, vegetables, oil and eggs during the month of May compared with April, the latest price observatory report showed on Friday.

When compared with May 2023, some items were priced higher and some lower, but on a month-to-month basis – between April and May – all items were up. The fact that Easter fell at the beginning of the month may also have had an impact.

The monthly report is published by the government’s consumer protection service. It looks at the weighted average price for 250 basic consumer products including food and other products based on the quantities and prices per day at 400 retail stores all over Cyprus throughout the month and includes supermarkets, bakeries and kiosks.

According to the result, the price of seafood rose 23.1 per cent month-to-month and 12.3 per cent over May last year, while fresh meat was up 7.9 per cent in May over April and clocked in at 11 per cent more expensive than it was in May 2023.

Vegetable prices rose 3.5 per cent during the month and came in at 8.3 per cent higher than the same month last year. Cooking oil was up 3.2 per cent and in total 3.9 per cent since last May while the price of eggs jumped by 1.8 per cent during the month which put them 0.6 per cent more expensive over a year ago.

A number of products, while they saw a month-to-month increase, were down overall on the previous year such as yogurt, up 1.9 per cent in May but down overall by 1.7 over the course of a year. Toilet paper was 10 per cent cheaper this May over May 2023 but still rose 1.98 per cent month-to-month over April. The price of sugar fell 15 per cent in a year but gained back a 1 per cent increase in May over the previous month.

“The assessment made for the month of May shows that the continuous increase in inflation from 1.2 per cent in March to 2.4 per cent in April and 2.7 per cent in May as a result of the increase in fuel prices, due to geopolitical developments and the increase in inflation in the food sector, is reflected in the prices of several product categories,” the consumer protection service said.

In particular, food inflation was 1.82 per cent in the period January-May 2024 compared to the corresponding period last year and is mainly due to the increase recorded in agricultural products by 6.27 per cent compared to the previous month and 2.84 per cent compared to the previous year.

In a total of 45 categories of basic products, 27 recorded an increase of which 11 came in at more than 2 per cent while 14 showed a decrease and another four showed no change.

As far as the food basket of 52 items was concerned, the cheapest came in at €230.90 and the most expensive at €234.76 and the “mid-price basket” at €231.17.

The service urges consumers to shop around for both price and quality differences before purchasing.

Detailed information on where the products were priced is provided here in Greek: https://consumer.gov.cy/gr/