The price of fresh fish and vegetables went down by 17 and 13 per cent in October, while the price of toilet paper had a 17 per cent price spike compared to September.

According to the Consumer Protection Service inflation was contained in October, reaching 3.5 per cent compared to 4 per cent in September and 2.6 per cent in August.

Twenty-eight categories of items saw a price drop, of which 14 had a more than one per cent price reduction. There were 17 categories which recorded a price increase.

Specifically, the cost of purchasing fresh fish went down by 17.4 per cent, while vegetables saw a 13.4 per cent drop in price. The cost of purchasing pasta fell by 4.1 per cent, frozen fish and meat by 3.8 cent and 3.5 per cent respectively, while the price of bottled water fell by 1.8 per cent.

Flour fell by 1.6 per cent and sugar by one per cent.

Meanwhile, toilet paper had the largest price increase by 17.4 per cent, while frozen molluscs and shellfish increased by 4 per cent. The price of fabric softeners went up by 3.1 per cent, gas cylinder by 2.7 per cent, fresh meat by 1.7 per cent, frozen precooked fish by 1.7 per cent and Cyprus coffee by 1.5 per cent.

The price observatory remarked there had been a drop in the cost of energy, which was a major factor on the prices across a number of products.

Nonetheless, supermarkets appear to vary in their prices, with the average cost of a basket of 56 goods in three different supermarkets ranging between €232 to €255. The average price of the basket of goods was at €247.

Additionally, the consumer protection service reported that the benefit to the consumer from the application of the zero VAT rate to nine products as of November 1 amounts to €5.74 in total purchases worth €60, depending on the supermarket.