Filenews 19 February 2024
Out of a total of 45 commodity categories, 31 categories recorded an increase, of which 15 categories increased by more than 3% in January, according to the Consumer Protection Service's Consumer Product Price Observatory.
Specifically, the Observatory presents the weighted average price for 250 basic consumer products (food and other products) based on the quantities and prices per day, in which these products were sold in 400 retail stores throughout Cyprus throughout the month.
The purpose of the Observatory is to provide the consumer with an objective comparative depiction of purchase prices from all retail stores, supermarkets, bakeries, bakeries, kiosks, etc.
In conclusion, the assessment made for January shows that the maintenance of the inflation rate at December levels (1.7% vs. 1.6%) is mainly due to the large change in clothing and footwear by -13%, while the category food and non-alcoholic beverages recorded a positive change of 0.15%. Compared to January 2023, an increase of 2.81% is recorded in the food category, mainly as a result of a 4.4% increase in agricultural products. These increases are also reflected in the prices recorded by the January Observatory, in which, as shown in detail in the Table of the Service with the price indices for January, in a total of 45 categories of basic products, 31 categories recorded an increase, of which 15 categories at a rate of more than 3%.
Specifically, the most significant increase was recorded compared to December in vegetable cooking fat by 16.7%, flour by 11%, almost all frozen foods with frozen molluscs / shellfish starting by 10.4%, frozen fish by 7.9%, frozen breaded meat by 5.1%, frozen pasta by 3.1%, yogurt by 5.6%, eggs by 5.4%, Juices by 5.3%, Cypriot coffee by 4.4%, soft drinks by 3.9%, fresh fish/molluscs by 3.8% and oil by 3%.
A decrease was recorded in vegetables/greens by 24.3%, sugar by 12.4%, fresh meat by 7.9%, bulgur by 3.9%, cold cuts by 2.7%, cheeses by 2.1% and bagels by 2.1%.
In the context of continuous monitoring of the market and recording of trends, as evolving from international and domestic conditions, the Service has again recorded on 13/2/2024 the prices of 55 common and very important products for the household in 3 hypermarkets of Nicosia. As shown in the comparative Observatory, the difference in the value of the most expensive basket from the cheapest amounts to 8% or €243,24 compared to €225,06 with the middle basket ranging to €237,81. In addition, the benefit to the consumer from the application of the zero VAT rate to the 11 products covered by the measure amounts to between €7.23 – €7.76 in total purchases worth approximately €95 depending on the supermarket.
