Cyprus Consumers Association reports price hikes and fuel disparities

The Cyprus Consumers Association reported that between May 1 and May 15, 2026, prices rose by 1% to 9% across 182 product barcodes in 31 categories. Primary increases were identified in nuts, fruit and vegetable juices, fabric softeners, frozen pasta, baby food, frozen vegetables, olive oil, and baby wipes, based on data from the e-kalathi platform. The association criticized the lack of intense market competition, noting that one supermarket chain's prices were up to 91% higher than the platform average for 370 examined products. Regarding diesel fuel, Paphos recorded the highest average price at 1.856 euros per litre, followed by Limassol (1.833), Famagusta (1.823), Nicosia (1.822), and Larnaca (1.820). Investigations into corporate petrol stations revealed significant retail price variations within the same districts, reaching up to 5.6 cents per litre in Paphos. The association also alleged that some petrol stations did not fully pass on government fuel subsidies to consumers. Data for these findings were sourced from the Ministry of Energy's e-kalathi platform and the private Smart Kalathi application.