Turkish Cypriots hit by hyperinflation

Turkish Cypriots are seeing their earnings vanish due to inflation spirals, as the cost of living in the Turkish occupied north has increased by a staggering 110%.

According to north’s statistical data, annual inflation in June spiked by 110.42% compared to last year, 56.76% since December, and 9.54% since last month.

Compared to the previous month, 562 products saw a price increase in the north.

The biggest monthly increase of 21.68% occurred in the transport sector due to higher petrol prices.

An increase of 15.28% was recorded in restaurants and hotels, 7.79% in miscellaneous goods and services, 7.66% in entertainment and culture, 7.33% in clothing and footwear and 6.79% in furniture, home appliances and homecare services.

An increase of 5.89% was also recorded in housing, water, electricity, and natural gas, 4.94% for food and non-alcoholic beverages, 4.30% for communication, 3.98% for education, and 3.13% in Health and 0.70% for alcoholic beverages and tobacco.

The three products with the largest price increases were lemons (182.95%), timber (83.33%), and pet vaccines (74.98%).

Turkish Cypriots have also been crushed under a tumbling Turkish Lira.

Turkey’s currency had weakened over 21% this year, on top of a 44% slide in 2021, when it was hit by a series of unorthodox interest rate cuts by the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, despite high inflation.

Turkish Cypriots have been hit harder by inflation than Turkey, as their imports are denominated in a foreign currency, namely the euro and the US Dollar.

Turkey’s annual inflation rate jumped to a 24-year high of 78.62% in June, just above forecast, driven by the impact of the Ukraine war, soaring commodity prices and a lira slide since the December crisis.

Analysts have doubted official accounts of the country’s inflation, arguing that true figures are closer to 175%.

Meanwhile, in the Cyprus Republic, inflation in May equalled a forty-year high of 9.1%, compared to a year earlier.

The highest inflation rate the Republic endured was 10.8% in 1981.