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- Ελληνικά
The Consumer Protection Service announces the Consumer Price Watch for the month of October 2023. The Observatory presents the weighted average price for 250 consumer staples (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 record of purchase prices from all retail outlets, supermarkets, bakeries, bakeries, bakeries, kiosks, etc.
In conclusion, the assessment made for the month of October shows that inflation, despite the upward trend of the previous months, was significantly contained in October, reaching 3.5% compared to 4% in September and 2.6% in August. In addition to the reduction in energy costs, an important factor in the moderation is the moderate increase in food (and in particular agricultural products) inflation, which stood at 8.74% in January-October compared to the same period last year and 9.13% in the first nine months of the year.
As shown in detail in the Table of price indices for the month of October, out of a total of 45 categories of basic products, 28 categories recorded a decrease, of which 14 categories decreased by more than 1%. The largest decrease was recorded for fresh fish and molluscs by 17.4% and vegetables/greens by 13.4%, followed by pasta by 4.1%, frozen fish and meat by 3.8% and 3.5% respectively, bottled water by 1.8%, flour by 1.6% and sugar by 1%.
17 categories increased, the most important being toilet paper by 17.4%, frozen molluscs and shellfish by 4%, fabric softeners by 3.1%, LPG cylinder by 2.7%, fresh meat by 1.7%, frozen fish pan/precooked by 1.7% and Cypriot coffee by 1.5%.
In the context of monitoring the market and recording the trends as they evolve from international and domestic conditions, the Service has carried out on 15/11/2023, the recording of prices of 56 common and very important products for the household in 3 major supermarkets in Nicosia. As shown in the attached Comparative Observatory, the difference in value of the most expensive basket from the cheapest is 10% or €255,73 compared to €232,74 with the middle basket at €247,44. In addition, the benefit to the consumer from the application of the zero VAT rate on 9 products from 1/11/2023 amounts to €5.74 on total purchases worth €60 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 both the 9 categories of products approved in the first phase and the two categories for which the measure will enter into force on 1 December, in nine different hypermarkets in 58 points of sale nationwide. The current assessment from the implementation of the measure based on the findings of the audits is that it continues to have a positive impact on prices and inflation since in about 77% of products prices have remained at the levels of 5 May (and 1 November for coffee and sugar) when the zero VAT rate measure was implemented. For sugar and coffee in particular, compliance is also universal with rates of 100% and 85% respectively.
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 and cannot replace the market research that each consumer must carry out on the basis of his or her own preferences, data and needs, nor are they intended to indicate to consumers the points of sale to choose or specific products.
In particular, it should be noted that some of the products included in the Price Observatory have qualitative differences which cannot be determined. To this end, the Service urges consumers to carry out substantial 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).
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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