February inflation reached 6.7%

Annual inflation in February rose by 6.7% as fuel prices continued their downward trend after hitting an all-time peak last summer.

According to the Cyprus Statistical Service, the increase in the cost of living was powered by housing, electricity, and heating fuel.

Compared to February 2022, the largest changes were noted in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (18,8%) and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (9.5%).

Compared to January 2023, the largest change was recorded in Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (3.6%).

Energy costs recorded a year-on-year increase of 13.5% but dropped by 0.4% compared to the previous month.

Non-energy industrial products are down by 1.8%.

The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) rose 0.8% in February compared to the previous month.

For January – February, the HICP rose by 6.8% compared to the previous year.

The inflation rate has been dropping, reaching 8.1% for 2022, driven by higher energy bills and pump prices.

Cyprus saw a record inflation rate in July when it peaked at 10.9%; the previous high was 10.8% in December 1981.

Eurozone

According to Eurostat, the euro area’s annual inflation rate was 8.5% in February, down from 8.6% in January.

A year earlier, the rate was 5.9%.

European Union annual inflation was 9.9%, down from 10% in January. A year earlier, the rate was 6.2%.

The lowest annual rates were registered in Luxembourg (4.8%), Belgium (5.4%) and Spain (6.0%).

The highest annual rates were in Hungary (25.8%), Latvia (20.1%) and Czechia (18.4%).

Compared with January, annual inflation fell in 15 Member States, remained stable in two and rose in ten.

In February, the highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from food, alcohol & tobacco (+3.10 percentage points), followed by services (+2.02 pp), non-energy industrial goods (+1.74 pp) and energy (+1.64 pp).