Prices for a number of products continued to rise in May, in step with the continuing inflation increase recorded by the Statistical Service, with the Consumer Protection Service’s Consumer Product Price Observatory recording a series of products with higher prices for the month.
According to the Observatory, which tracks the average weighted price of 250 basic consumer products across 400 retail outlets countrywide, the largest month-on-month increase was recorded in cured meats, up 6.4% (up 9.2% compared with May 2025). Frozen breaded and pre-cooked fish rose 6.3% month-on-month, though down 15.3% compared with May 2025. Frozen molluscs and shellfish rose 6.1% month-on-month, though down 10.9% compared with May 2025. Cooking oil rose 5.8% month-on-month, down 0.2% compared with May 2025. Canned meat rose 5.4% month-on-month, up 7.3% compared with May 2025.
Increases were also recorded in the price of Cypriot coffee, up 5.1% month-on-month (up 5.8% compared with May 2025), baby food, up 5.1% (up 10.9% compared with May 2025), eggs, up 5% (up 7.9% compared with May 2025), flour, up 4.9% (up 3.5% compared with May 2025), laundry detergent, up 4.4% (up 10.8% compared with May 2025), frozen pasta, up 4.1% (up 5% compared with May 2025), soft drinks, up 3.8% (up 6.2% compared with May 2025), toilet paper, up 3.6% (up 4.7% compared with May 2025), and yoghurt, up 3.4% (up 2.9% compared with May 2025).
Month-on-month decreases in May were recorded in fresh vegetables and greens, down 24.3%, though up 24.9% compared with last May. Fresh fish and molluscs fell 6.8% month-on-month (up 6.9% compared with May 2025), fresh meat fell 1.6% (down 7.6% compared with May 2025), frozen fish fell 1.3% (up 7.1% compared with May 2025), and sugar fell 1.1% (up 0.2% compared with May 2025).
11.2% gap between priciest and cheapest supermarket
On the e-kalathi digital platform, the Consumer Protection Service said the data shows the number of identical common products tracked across seven large supermarkets has risen gradually, from 228 on October 15, 2025, to 253 products on June 15, 2026.
The Service said the ranking of the seven supermarkets has shifted compared with the previous month, and that the difference in value of the basket of 253 identical common products between the most expensive supermarket, Filippos, at 1,080.72 euros, and the cheapest, Sklavenitis, at 972.10 euros, stood at 108.62 euros, or 11.2%, for 253 products as of June 15, 2026, compared with 119.70 euros, or 12%, for 257 products the previous month.
The Service called on all consumers to visit the www.e-kalathi.gov.cy platform and use its mobile app, in order to benefit from the tools it provides for more informed and advantageous purchases.
Price observatory is for information only, Service says
The Service clarified that the Price Observatories are prepared exclusively to inform consumers and do not in any way constitute advice. It said the Observatories are not intended to, and cannot, substitute for the market research each consumer should carry out based on their own preferences, circumstances and needs, nor are they intended to direct consumers towards particular retail outlets or specific products.
It was noted in particular that some products included in the Observatory have quality differences that cannot be determined. For this reason, the Service urged consumers to carry out substantive market research before making purchases, while taking the Observatory’s results into account.