Press Release
The Consumer Protection Service announces the Consumer Product Price Observatory for November 2024. The Observatory presents the weighted average price of 250 basic consumer products (including food and other items) based on the quantities and prices at which these products were sold daily in 400 retail stores nationwide throughout the month.
The purpose of the Observatory is to provide consumers with an objective comparative overview of purchase prices across all retail outlets, including supermarkets, bakeries, convenience stores, kiosks, and others.
In summary, the November assessment indicates a slight increase in the inflation rate to 1.5% after three consecutive months of decline, from 1.5% in August to 0.7% in September, and 0.6% in October. This increase is mainly attributed to rises in two economic categories: agricultural products (+8.91%) and services (+3.0%) compared to November 2023, which offset significant decreases in petroleum products (-5.17%) and electricity (-4.19%).
In contrast, compared to the previous month, both food and agricultural products recorded decreases of 2.3% and 4%, respectively. These reductions, along with restrained inflation in other essential goods, lower fuel costs, and the reinstatement of a zero VAT rate on seven product categories, are reflected in the prices of several product categories recorded in the Service's Observatory for November.
As detailed in the Service's Price Index Table for November, out of a total of 45 categories of basic products, only six (6) categories showed an increase, while 39 categories recorded a decrease, with six (6) of them exceeding a 10% reduction.
Specifically, the categories that increased compared to the previous month are:
- Infant formula: +6.0% (+0.6% compared to November 2023)
- Cypriot coffee: +3.7% (+11.7% compared to November 2023)
- LPG cylinders: +3.2% (+4.8% compared to November 2023)
- Fabric softeners: +2.1% (+11.2% compared to November 2023)
- Bread: +0.4% (+3.8% compared to November 2023)
- Biscuits: +0.2% (+3.6% compared to November 2023)
The categories that decreased compared to the previous month include:
- Vegetables and greens: -20.1% (+0.3% compared to November 2023)
- Frozen fish: -16.6% (-7.6% compared to November 2023)
- Baby diapers: -15.1% (+4.8% compared to November 2023)
- Frozen mollusks/shellfish: -14.2% (+4.0% compared to November 2023)
- Oil: -12.8% (+2.0% compared to November 2023)
- Vegetable cooking fat: -10.5% (+6.9% compared to November 2023)
- Frozen/pre-cooked fish: -4.9% (-14.1% compared to November 2023)
- Sanitary pads: -4.6% (+1.0% compared to November 2023)
- Flour: -4.3% (-1.8% compared to November 2023)
- Frozen breaded/pre-cooked meat: -4.2% (-4.2% compared to November 2023)
- Bottled water: -4.1% (-0.1% compared to November 2023)
- Rice: -4.0% (-0.5% compared to November 2023)
- Baby food: -3.5% (+6.7% compared to November 2023)
- Bagels: -2.7% (-1.6% compared to November 2023)
The Consumer Protection Service clarifies that the Price Observatories are prepared exclusively to inform consumers and are not intended as advice. They are not meant to replace the personal market research that each consumer should undertake based on their preferences, circumstances, and needs, nor do they aim to direct consumers toward specific retail outlets or products.
Additionally, it is noted that some products included in the Observatory may have qualitative differences that cannot be specified. For this reason, the Service encourages consumers to conduct thorough market research before making purchases, taking into account the results of this Observatory.
Detailed data from the Observatory is available on the Consumer Protection Service's website: https://consumer.gov.cy/en/price-observatories
