Cost of living in the TRNC up by 67% since April 2022

The cost of living in the TRNC increased by 67.34 percent since April 2022.

According to the Consumer Prices General Index prepared by the Statistical Institute for April, the cost of living in North Cyprus increased by 5.30 percent compared to March 2023, 15.46 percent compared to December 2022 and 67.34 percent compared to April 2022.

Hotels and Restaurants

The cost of dining out or staying at a hotel increased by 13.75 percent compared to March. However, this figure does not begin to compare with April 2022, when prices in the same group increased by 130.24 percent.

Cost of 526 Items Researched

The Institute of Statistics compared the prices of 526 items within the scope of the study. It found that the average prices of 439 items had increased and the average prices of 87 items decreased compared to March this year.

Tomatoes  and Onions

According to the data, the produce with the highest price rises compared to March were tomatoes at 76.70 percent. The highest annual price rise of any vegetable was the onion at 259.84 percent compared to April 2022. 

Hoteliers Unhappy

President of the Cyprus Turkish Hoteliers Association, Dimağ Caginer told Yeniduzen that they were dissatisfied with having to increase hotel prices.

The President of the Cyprus Turkish Restaurant Association Arif Bayraktar said that if restaurateurs accurately reflected the cost of meat and chicken in their prices, a plate of food would cost between 700 – 800 TL.

“We eat tomatoes for 50 TL in a country where the sun shines. There is an inept government and policies“, Bayraktar said,

Meanwhile, Mehmet Nizam, President of the Cyprus Turkish Farmers Union, talked about the other “price hike champions” onions and tomatoes, and said that the main problem stems from the lack of incentives for the growers and wholesalers.

Yeniduzen, LGC News