Inflation decelerates in October

Cyprus’ inflation rate showed signs of decelerating in October following two months of price increases, dropping 0.7% to 3.5%.

According to data from the Cyprus Statistical Service, the October Consumer Price Index increased by 0.30 units, reaching 117.97 compared to 117.67 in September, with the annual rate of inflation reaching 3.5%, down from 4.02% in the previous month.

For the 10 months of January-October, the CPI increased by 3.9% compared to the same period of the previous year.

As regards the economic origin, the largest positive change when compared to the index of October 2022 was in agricultural goods at 6.9%, which was significantly lower than the 15.2% rate in the previous month.

Electricity and fuel prices accelerated at a rate of 5.35% and 3.08% respectively.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 1.20 units, registering the largest positive effect on the change of the CPI.

In contrast, only communication had a negative impact, with 0.02 units.

Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.9% in October, down from 4.3% in September, according to estimates.

Looking at the main components of inflation in the eurozone, food, alcohol & tobacco are expected to have the highest annual rate in October (7.5%, compared with 8.8% in September), followed by services (4.6% from 4.7%), non-energy industrial goods (3.5%, compared with 4.1%) and energy (-11.1% from -4.6%).