Retail prices decreased by up to 12 per cent in October

Price decreases of five to 12 per cent were observed in 35 products recorded by the consumer association in October, it announced on Monday. According to the association, the product categories in which large decreases were observed were cheese, chocolates, pasta, baby food and coffee, with reductions in the latter two partly attributed to the zero VAT rate that came into effect in October. Meanwhile, price increases ranged between 5 and 15 per cent in 17 products. The main products in which large increases in the average retail price were observed were ravioli, fruit juices, baby wipes, flour and household cleaning products. The association said that according to its data, there does not appear to be fierce competition among supermarkets participating in e-kalathi. E-kalathi is designed to provide consumers with information regarding price de- and increases across local supermarkets. It also announced a review of the products available on e-kalathi. “Someone should inform us what has become of the 1,000 new products which the competent authority publicly declared would be added to the range of products included in the e-kalathi by June 2026,” the association said. The association ensured that it would continue its monitoring of price trends for the products listed in e-kalathi and would continue to publish its observations and conclusions transparently to ensure that consumers were fully informed about ongoing price trends.