Fuel costs continue to weigh heavily on Cypriot motorists, with diesel prices reaching €2.126 per litre at the most expensive pump in the country. Petrol prices remain on an upward trend that has persisted since August, according to the Consumer Protection Service. The service's latest price observatory puts the nationwide average for unleaded 95 petrol at €1.757 per litre, while unleaded 98 averages €1.812. Diesel has reached an average of €2.022 per litre, while heating fuel stands at €1.678. These figures add pressure on households and businesses as transport and energy costs remain elevated.
The latest figures follow Wednesday's report that diesel had reached an all-time high at a petrol station in Limassol, near the city's seafront road, the Kean factory and The Oval. The cheapest diesel was available in Pyrga, in the Larnaca district, at €1.939 per litre. For unleaded 95, the cheapest price was €1.669 per litre in the Larnaca district, while the highest was €1.829 in the Paphos and Nicosia districts. The cheapest unleaded 98 was priced at €1.738 per litre in Nicosia district, compared with a high of €1.999 in Paphos district. Heating fuel was cheapest in Larnaca district at €1.529 per litre, while the highest price, €1.769, was recorded in both Larnaca and the Famagusta district.
The latest increases come amid debate over whether fuel prices in Cyprus are rising excessively compared with other European countries. Government officials told MPs on Tuesday that retail fuel prices were at acceptable levels when considered against global market movements and prices elsewhere in the European Union, although the position was met with scepticism. Constantinos Karagiorgis, director of the Consumer Protection Service, said recent price increases in Cyprus had been lower than the EU average and that, in absolute terms, unleaded 95 petrol and heating fuel remained among the cheapest in the bloc. He stressed that prices needed to be assessed in the context of European and global developments rather than in isolation. Since the beginning of September, the service has been using an econometric model to monitor retail fuel prices and their movements. The model takes into account daily data from Platts, a provider of benchmark price assessments and analytics, as well as exchange rates and information supplied by fuel importers in Cyprus.
However, official claims stood in contrast to Eurostat data released last month, which revealed that Cyprus recorded one of the European Union's steepest monthly rises in petrol prices during August. Eurostat reported that petrol prices in Cyprus rose by 6.2 per cent between July and August, the fourth-largest increase among EU member states. Spain recorded the biggest increase at 8.2 per cent, followed by Romania at 6.6 per cent and Italy at 6.3 per cent. Across the EU, petrol prices rose by 3.3 per cent over the same month, following a 4.7 per cent increase between June and July. Petrol prices increased in 22 EU countries between July and August, fell in three and remained unchanged in two. With retail prices continuing to rise and diesel averaging more than €2 per litre, motorists face a further squeeze on household budgets and operating costs, even as officials maintain that Cyprus' prices remain broadly in line with international market conditions.