Cyprus is already feeling the effects of the Middle East conflict through rising consumer prices, and further increases are inevitable as long as the war continues, the president of the Cyprus Consumer Association has warned.
Marios Drousiotis told Phileleftheros the price rises seen in recent weeks are only the beginning. He said the increases were expected and will continue, as no one can know with certainty when the conflict will reach a positive conclusion.
“When the war started, no one knew where it would end. We knew that price rises on products would have to come one to two months after the war broke out. Rises that we did eventually see within April — within the timeframe we expected,” Drousiotis said, adding that based on current conditions, with no meaningful ceasefire and no restoration of normality in energy transport, the increases will continue.
Asked whether businesses that appeared to have absorbed some of the rises without immediately passing them on to consumers were acting within reasonable limits, Drousiotis was cautious. He said that while some rises were expected, he could not say with certainty that the level of increases seen is within logical parameters or justified by developments.
E-kalathi price data
According to Cyprus Consumer Association research, noticeable price rises in products included in the e-kalathi basket began to be recorded from April 14, 2026. By April 30, the research found rises of more than 1% across 39 product categories covering a total of 241 products. The categories recording the most increases were pasta, cheeses, chocolates, domestically produced flour and yoghurt.
In six product categories, rises affected only specific brands. The level of price increases reached up to 14%, the research found.
The association also found that in the vast majority of supermarkets participating in the e-kalathi scheme, price divergences between outlets are so large as not to indicate strong competition. The average gap between the most expensive and the cheapest supermarket stands at 60%.
In one supermarket participating in the scheme — which the association did not name — 335 products were found to be priced well above the average selling price of the other participating supermarkets. In a small number of products, the difference exceeded 100%.
Fuel prices show partial containment
On the positive side, fuel prices have shown some containment since the government applied an excise duty cut of 8.33 cents per litre on petrol and six cents per litre on diesel from April 4. Since then, petrol prices have risen by 3.5 cents per litre and diesel by 4.5 cents per litre, pointing to a degree of stabilisation, according to the association.
In total, including the excise duty component, prices have risen by 23.5 cents per litre for petrol, 47.5 cents per litre for diesel and 43.5 cents per litre for heating oil since March 1. The association calculates that the excise duty cut absorbed approximately 35% of the petrol price rises and approximately 13% of the diesel rises. No excise duty cut was applied to heating oil.
