The US and Israeli strike against Iran and the turmoil that followed in the Middle East have affected almost everything in recent months. Tourism, oil, transport and investment are in a wait-and-see attitude. In Cyprus, increases have already been recorded due to this uncertainty, with Marios Drousiotis warning through "F" that the price increases observed recently are only the beginning.
In particular, according to the President of the Cyprus Consumers Association, Cyprus has already begun to be affected by the consequences of the war, with price increases in consumer products.
As he noted, these price increases will continue at least as long as the conflict in the Middle East continues.
As Mr. Drousiotis told "F", these increases were expected and will continue, as, as he mentioned, no one can know for sure when there will be a positive outcome to the war in the Middle East.
"When the war started, no one knew where it would end up. We knew that we would have to see increases in products one to two months after the outbreak of the war. Increases that we finally saw in April, i.e. within the time limit we expected," said Mr. Drousiotis, adding at the same time that, based on today's data, i.e. without a substantial ceasefire and without restoring normality in energy transfers, these increases will continue.
Asked whether some businesses seem to have absorbed part of the increases and did not proceed immediately with price increases, Mr. Drousiotis appeared cautious, saying that, although some increases were expected, it cannot be said with certainty that their percentage is within reasonable limits and is justified by the developments.
The increases in e-kalathi
According to a survey by the Cyprus Consumers Association, from April 14, 2026, noticeable increases began to be recorded in products included in e-kalathi.
According to the survey data, by April 30, 2026, increases of more than 1% were detected in 39 product categories, which concerned a total of 241 products. Most of the increases were recorded in the categories of spaghetti, cheese, chocolates, domestically produced flour and yogurt.
In six product categories, the increases concerned only a specific brand, while the amount of price increases reached up to 14%.
It should also be noted that, in the vast majority of supermarkets participating in e-kalathi, the discrepancies between the selling prices are so large that they do not constitute a sign of intense competition.
The average deviation between the most expensive and cheapest supermarket is around 60%.
From the survey of the Cyprus Consumers' Association, in 335 products of a specific supermarket participating in e-kalathi, it appeared that the selling prices were at very high levels, compared to the average selling price of the supermarkets participating in e-kalathi. In a small number of products, the difference exceeded 100%.
Fuel prices have been contained
On the positive side, the fact that since April 4, when the reduction of the consumption tax by 8.33 cents per liter on gasoline and by 6 cents per liter on diesel was implemented, prices to date have increased by 3.5 cents on gasoline and by 4.5 cents on diesel, showing a restraint in the percentage of the increase and a stabilization.
In total, including the consumption tax, from March 1 until today, the increases in gasoline reached 23.5 cents per liter, diesel 47.5 cents per liter and heating oil 43.5 cents per liter. Essentially, the reduction of the consumption tax absorbed about 35% of the increases in gasoline and about 13% in diesel. It is recalled that there was no reduction in the tax on heating oil.
