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- Ελληνικά
The Consumer Protection Service announces the Consumer Product Price Watch for the month of November 2023. The Observatory presents the weighted average price for 250 basic consumer products (food and other products), based on the quantities and prices per day at which these products were sold in 400 retail outlets nationwide throughout the month.
The purpose of the Observatory is to provide the consumer with an objective comparative reflection of purchase prices from all retail outlets, supermarkets, bakeries, bakeries, bakeries, kiosks, etc.In conclusion, the valuation for the month of November shows that prices are following the downward trend of inflation which, as a result of the continuous reduction in energy costs and food inflation, amounted to 1.7% in November compared to 3.5% in October and 4% in September. According to published data from the Statistical Office, inflation in the food sector stood at 8.14% in the January-November period compared to the same period last year and compared to 8.74% in the January-October period and 9.13% for January-September. The large decrease compared to the previous month is due to the change of -4.08% in agricultural products and -7.61% in petroleum products.
As shown in detail in the Service's Table of price indices for November, out of a total of 45 categories of basic products, 28 categories recorded a decrease, of which 10 categories recorded a decrease of more than -3%. The largest declines were recorded in vegetables/greens by 18.3%, fresh fish and shellfish by 10.4%, vegetable cooking fat by 14.8%, frozen fish and shellfish/shellfish by 9.1% and 6.5% respectively, cypriot and instant coffee by 3.7% and 4.9% respectively, flour by 4.5%, sugar by 1.7%, laundry detergent by 3.3% and toilet paper by 2%.
17 categories increased, of which only 8 categories increased by between 1%-4%. The most significant increase for the month of November was recorded for tomato juices/seeds by 3.8%, eggs by 3.4% and pasta by 3%.
In the context of monitoring the market and recording trends as they evolve from international and domestic conditions, the Service has made on 12/12/2023 the recording of prices of 53 common and very important for the household products in 3 supermarkets in Limassol.
In the context of monitoring the market and recording trends as they evolve from international and domestic conditions, the Service has made on 12/12/2023 the recording of prices of 53 common and very important for the household products in 3 supermarkets in Limassol. As shown in the attached Comparative Observatory, the difference in the value of the most expensive basket from the cheapest is 6% or €250.24 compared to €235.60 with the middle basket at €238.55. In addition, the benefit to the consumer of applying the zero VAT rate to the 11 products covered by the measure, including meat and vegetables from 1/12/2023, amounts to between €6.41-6.88 on total purchases worth around €75 depending on the supermarket.
It is reiterated that the Consumer Protection Service continues intensive checks on the implementation of the zero VAT rate measure, recording prices of all approved product categories in nine different hypermarkets in 58 outlets nationwide. The current assessment from the implementation of the measure based on the findings of the audits is that it has had a positive effect on prices and thus on inflation since in about 76% of products prices have remained at the levels of 5 May when the measure was implemented. According to the findings of the last audit carried out on 11/12/2023, compliance is universal with sugar and coffee rates at 90%, for vegetables at 94% and for meat at 69% essentially due to the increase in the price of lamb in some supermarkets.
The Consumer Protection Service clarifies that the Price Observatories are prepared solely for consumer information purposes and in no way constitute advice. The Price Observatories are not intended to be, and cannot be, a substitute for the market research to be carried out by each consumer on the basis of his or her own preferences, data and needs, nor are they intended to indicate to consumers which outlets to choose or which products to buy. In particular, it should be noted that some of the products included in the Observatory have qualitative differences that cannot be defined. To this end, the Office urges consumers to carry out meaningful market research before making purchases, taking into account the results of this Observatory.
The detailed data of the Observatory are provided on the website of the Consumer Protection Service (www.consumer.gov.cy).
(ASP/NZ)
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