Filenews 22 August 2024
The price of 27 of the 45 products of the Consumer Protection Service's Consumer Product Price Observatory increased for July, with the largest increases recorded in the price of fish, fresh and frozen, and sugar. At the same time, the price of greens and vegetables decreased significantly.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Observatory said its assessment for July showed that the upward trend in inflation from 2.4% in April to 2.7% in May and 2.9% in June was reversed in July, when inflation was limited to 2.1%, with a moderate increase in individual commodity prices.
The moderate increase is reflected in the prices of several product categories recorded by the Service's Observatory, mainly food, which recorded inflation of 2.2% in the period January – July 2024 compared to the same period last year and against 2% in the first half of the year, which is mainly due to the increase recorded by agricultural products by 4.5% in July compared to the previous month.
For July, out of a total of 45 commodity categories, 27 categories recorded an increase, of which 13 were less than 1%, 17 categories showed a decrease and one category (toilet paper) no change.
The most significant increases compared to the previous month were recorded for fresh fish/molluscs by 5.7%. Compared to July 2023, the price of fresh fish and molluscs was increased by 4.3%. In addition, the price of frozen fish was increased by 5.2% in July compared to June, while compared to July last year it was reduced by 3.3%.
In July, an increase of 5.2% was also recorded in the price of sugar, compared to the previous month. On the contrary, compared to July 2023, the price of sugar is reduced by 17,9%. An increase was also recorded in the price of oil, which was more expensive by 3.3% compared to June, while compared to the same month last year a large increase was recorded, 18.8%. Finally, an increase was also recorded in the price of eggs, by 2.7% compared to June and 2.1% compared to July 2023.
On the other hand, a decrease compared to the previous month was recorded by 17 categories in July. The largest decrease was recorded in the price of vegetables and greens, which was down 14.3% compared to June and 14.6% compared to July 2023.
The price of LPG cylinder recorded a decrease of 2,3%, which, however, compared to July 2023 is increased by 3,3%. A decrease was also recorded in the price of bread by 2,2% in July compared to June, as well as a decrease of 0,6% compared to July 2023. Finally, frozen molluscs/shellfish fell by 2.2%, remaining however up by 14.3% compared to July 2023.
In the announcement, the Consumer Protection Service notes that it continues intensively the checks on the implementation of the zero-VAT rate measure, while also carrying out sector investigations and controls, such as the recent survey in the fresh fruit and vegetable sector.
The Consumer Protection Service also clarifies that the Price Observatories are prepared solely for consumer information purposes and in no way constitute advice. The Price Observatories are not intended and cannot replace the market research that each consumer must do based on his own preferences, data and needs, nor do they aim to indicate to consumers the points of sale they will choose or specific products.
In particular, it should be noted that some of the products included in the Observatory suffer from differences in quality which cannot be determined. To this end, the Office encourages consumers to do meaningful market research before making purchases, taking into account the results of this Observatory.
CNA
