Filenews 10 March 2024
After the continuous increases in food prices, a new headache for thousands of households and businesses is caused by the rise in prices of basic services used by the public in their daily lives, which confirms that the fronts of price increases are multiple and do not only concern food products, fuel and electricity.
The February inflation announcement from the Statistical Service reveals that prices... They stand up to dozens of services used by citizens and can hardly limit or avoid them. The car, which especially in Cyprus is absolutely necessary for the everyday life of most of us, seems from the data of the Statistical Service to be becoming more and more expensive. Car insurance increased by 8.1% year-on-year (from February '23 to February '24), while costs for car maintenance and repair increased by 5.7%.
Prices for auto parts rose 3.9 percent, but there's good news: tire prices fell by an average of 3.2 percent in a year. Prices for renting garages and parking spaces increased 4.4% in February 2024 year-on-year, while if the comparison is made compared to January '24 a slight decrease of 1.05% is recorded.
But apart from the car and everything related to its use, there are also services that have to do with health. For example, the price index of medical products, devices and equipment rose 2% year-on-year. The average price of pharmaceuticals rose 2%, pregnancy tests rose 4.1%, various therapeutic devices and equipment rose 2%, prices of corrective glasses and contact lenses rose by 0.9% and prices of dental services appreciated by 4.4% in one year. The prices of paramedical services increased only slightly (0.4%), as did the services of medical analysis laboratories (0.3%), according to data from the Statistical Service.
But there are other price increases in services that are part of the daily lives of hundreds of households and businesses. Prices of postal services, for example, increased 3.5% year-on-year, fixed telephony services 1%, mobile services 1.6%, prices on internet access providers remained stable and on the positive side, prices on package telecommunications services decreased by 2.6% year-on-year.
Home insurance prices rose 5.5% year-on-year and health and transport insurance rose 1.8% for each category. Even funeral home services were hit by high prices, as prices in the industry rose 7.2% between February '23 and February '24.
However, among the basic services that a family uses is education. In February '24 on an annual basis the price index for pre-primary and primary education increased 5.2% year-on-year, secondary education by 2.6% and tertiary education by 0.8%.
Regarding the services that make up the entertainment package, data from the Statistical Service showed that the price of the index in accommodation services increased 7.2%, while the price index of restaurants and hotels increased 6.2% year-on-year.
Prices at hair salons for men and children rose 2.3% in February year-on-year, prices at salons for women appreciated 6.3%, prices for personal care treatments rose 5.7% and prices for personal care items appreciated by 2.6%.
