According to the Statistical Service of Cyprus in March 2017, the Consumer Price Index increased by 0.89 units to 99.76 units compared to 98.87 units in February 2017. Compared to March 2016, CPI is increased by 1.9% while for the period between January and March 2017, CPI is also increased by 1.4% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

In the twelve-month period from April 2016 to March 2017, in comparison to the period from April 2015 to March 2016, the annual average rate of change of the CPI was -0.6%. The corresponding annual average rate of change of the CPI in the previous twelve month period was -2.2%.

As regards the economic origin, when compared both to the index of March 2016 and to the index of the previous month, the largestchange was observed in Electricity with an increase of 26.8% and 5.6% respectively.

Analysis of changes
Compared to March 2016, the categories with the biggest positive change were the Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (8.6%) and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (5.4%).

In comparison to the CPI of February 2017, the category with the largest increase was the Clothing and Footwear (9.1%).

For the period between January-March 2017, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, the largest positive change was noted in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (6.0%).

Analysis of effects
The categories with the largest positive effect on the change of the CPI of March 2017 when compared to March 2016 were the following: Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (0.98), Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (0.83) and Transport (0.37). The category with the greatest negative effect was the Clothing and Footwear (-0.14).

The categories with the largest positive effect on the change of the CPI compared to the previous month, were the Clothing and Footwear (0.72) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (0.18) while Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (-0.11) had the most negative effect.

The following products/services had the most notable positive effect on the change of the CPI of March 2017 compared to March 2016: electricity (0.69), petroleum products (0.67) and vegetables (0.47). On the contrary, clothing (-0.20) had the most negative effect.

Finally, clothing (0.52) had the most positive effect on the change of the CPI of March 2017 compared to the previous month while vegetables (-0.19) had the largest negative effect.

Source: InCyprus