Consumer staple prices showed mixed trends in January, with frozen fish recording the highest increase at 16.3 per cent and sugar seeing the steepest decline at 16.8 per cent, according to the Consumer Protection Service.

Prices rose in 26 categories, with 11 increasing by more than 3 per cent. The biggest hikes were in frozen fish, up by 16.3 per cent, pretzels by 11.2 per cent, frozen molluscs and shellfish by 8.2 per cent, and flour by 8 per cent, compared to December.

At the same time, 18 product categories recorded a drop, while one remained unchanged, the service said, citing data from the Ministry of Energy, Commerce, and Industry.

The January report tracks the weighted average price of 250 key consumer products, based on daily sales volumes and prices from 400 retail outlets across the country.

The service said the observatory aims to provide consumers with a clear comparison of prices in supermarkets, bakeries, kiosks, and other retail shops.

Inflation for January remained steady at 2.5 per cent, close to December’s figure of 2.6 per cent.

The largest increases were in food and non-alcoholic beverages, up 4.8 per cent, and restaurants and hotels, up 4.1 per cent.

Conversely, the biggest drop was in clothing and footwear, which fell by 13 per cent compared to December, while food and non-alcoholic beverages dropped by 2.43 per cent, mainly due to a 6.1 per cent decrease in agricultural prices.

Among individual products, frozen fish saw the largest increase from December, rising by 16.3 per cent, though it was down 0.3 per cent from January 2024.

Pretzels rose by 11.2 per cent (-1.1 per cent from a year earlier), frozen molluscs and shellfish by 8.2 per cent (-2.23 per cent), and flour by 8 per cent (-4.8 per cent).

Other notable increases included baby food, up by 6 per cent (+11.5 per cent from January 2024), Cypriot coffee by 6.3 per cent (+11.3 per cent), oil by 5.8 per cent (+1.2 per cent), vegetable cooking fat by 4.4 per cent (-6.3 per cent), and rice by 3.3 per cent (-0.8 per cent).

Meanwhile, sugar recorded the biggest price drop, falling by 16.8 per cent (-22.3 per cent from a year earlier), followed by vegetables and greens at -7.5 per cent (+69.8 per cent), fresh meat at –

5.5 per cent (+9.5 per cent), cheese at -3.4 per cent (-3.4 per cent), fresh fish and molluscs at -3.3 per cent (+16.2 per cent), and cold cuts at -2.5 per cent (-3.3 per cent).

Other small declines were seen in laundry detergents (-1.7 per cent), baby diapers (-1.6 per cent), sanitary towels (-1.5 per cent), and bread (-1.4 per cent).

As part of its ongoing market monitoring, the service checked prices for 27 essential household products at five supermarkets in Nicosia on February 18, comparing them with figures from November 14.

The service clarified that the price observatories are for consumer information only and do not serve as purchasing advice.

It urged consumers to do their own research before making purchases, noting that some products in the observatory may have qualitative differences not reflected in price comparisons.