Inflation in Cyprus increased by 1.5% in August 2024, marking a slowdown from July's 2.11% rise, according to the Statistical Service of Cyprus. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August 2024 increased by 0.37 points, reaching 118.10 compared to 117.73 in July.

For the January-August 2024 period, the CPI recorded an overall increase of 2.0% compared to the same period in 2023. The largest price shifts were seen in agricultural products, which rose by 6.8% year-on-year and 4.5% month-on-month.

Analysis of Percentage Changes

Compared to August 2023, the highest price increases were in the categories of Restaurants and Hotels (5.6%) and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (3.4%). On a month-to-month basis, Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages saw the largest price increase at 1.7%.

For the January-August 2024 period, compared to the same period in 2023, the categories with the largest gains were Restaurants and Hotels (5.7%) and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (3.3%).

Impact on CPI

The largest positive contributors to the August 2024 CPI increase compared to August 2023 were Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (0.79 points) and Restaurants and Hotels (0.58 points). Transportation had the largest negative impact (-0.40 points).

Month-on-month, the largest upward driver in August was Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+0.41 points), while the biggest downward pressure came from Petroleum Products (-0.53 points).

Fresh Vegetables had the most significant positive impact both year-on-year (0.40 points) and month-on-month (0.51 points), while Petroleum Products contributed the largest negative effect in comparison to both the previous year and month.