Energy prices keep inflation at 4.1%

In September, inflation in Cyprus remained relatively high as rising fuel and energy costs kept it at 4.1%, although lower than the 5% in August.

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices slowed while the increase in energy had the biggest impact compared to the same month of 2020.

According to the Statistical Service, in September 2021, the Consumer Price Index decreased by 0.06 units at 104.03 from 104.09 in August.

For the nine months to September, the CPI increased by 1.8% compared to the same period last year.

The largest changes when compared to September 2020 were in Electricity (39.4%) and Petroleum products (21.1%).

Compared to the previous month’s index, the largest change was monitored in Agricultural goods (-8.7%).

For January–September 2021, the largest positive change was recorded in Transport (6.7%), whereas the largest negative change was noted in Communication (-1.8).

The category Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (-0.82) had the largest negative effect on the CPI change compared to the previous month.

In contrast, the category Clothing and Footwear had the largest positive effect (0.65).

Petroleum products (1.49) and Electricity (1.07) had the most notable effect on the change of the CPI of September 2021 compared to September 2020.

Finally, fresh vegetables (-0.49) and fresh fruit (-0.36) had the largest negative effect on the change of the CPI of September 2021 compared to the previous month, whereas clothing (0.48) and footwear (0.17) had the largest positive effect.