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Cost of living in Cyprus: what costs more or less than in the EU, what is sold VAT-free and where to compare prices

Consumer prices in Cyprus are 91.6% of the EU average, while dairy and eggs cost more. What is sold VAT-free until May 2027 and where to compare supermarket prices.

Everyday life in Cyprus Checked: Changed:

  • 91.6%consumer price level against the EU average in 2025
  • 127.1%dairy and eggs — the main thing that costs more than in the EU
  • 0% until May 2027VAT on bread, milk, coffee, sugar, meat and fish

In short

Who it applies to
Anyone working out what life in Cyprus costs: people planning a move and residents who want to spend less.
What it costs
Overall, Cyprus is not more expensive than the EU: consumer prices in 2025 were 91.6% of the EU average, 14th of 27 countries. Groceries cost about the EU level — 100.1% — but dairy and eggs are a third above it at 127.1%, while meat is cheaper at 83.5%. Cafés and restaurants are at 85.2%, car fuel at 85.5%. For comparison, prices in Greece are 84.0% of the EU average.
How long it takes
A zero VAT rate — μηδενικός συντελεστής ΦΠΑ — applies to fresh fruit and vegetables, infant milk, nappies and feminine hygiene products until 31 December 2027. Fresh and frozen meat, poultry, fish, squid and octopus have been zero-rated since 1 October 2026, and bread, milk, coffee, sugar and baby food since 12 October 2026; both measures run until 31 May 2027.
Where to apply
Supermarket prices are compared on e-kalathi: chains with turnover above €5 million a year must report their prices to it. Fruit and vegetable prices at markets and shops are published on e-kofini by the Department of Agriculture — 2 times a week. Complaints about prices and price labels go to the Υπηρεσία Προστασίας Καταναλωτή — the Consumer Protection Service, free line 1429.
If your case differs
The shelf and advertised price must include all taxes. A product sold by weight or in a pack also shows the price per kilo or litre next to it — use that to compare different pack sizes. A zero VAT rate does not freeze the price: the shop sets it, and it can still rise with purchase and delivery costs.

Your case

Groceries, cafés and restaurants

Groceries overall cost about the EU level — 100.1% — but the basket is uneven: dairy and eggs are at 127.1% of the EU average, meat at 83.5%. VAT-free right now are fresh fruit and vegetables, infant milk, nappies and feminine hygiene products — until 31 December 2027; fresh and frozen meat, poultry, fish, squid, cuttlefish and octopus — since 1 October 2026; bread, milk, coffee, sugar and baby food — since 12 October 2026, both measures until 31 May 2027. Sausages, smoked and processed meat are not on the list: they carry the usual food rate of 5%. Cafés and restaurants are below the EU average at 85.2%; their VAT is 9%. Compare the same product across chains on e-kalathi, and fruit and vegetables on e-kofini.

Water at an airport, beach, museum or hospital

Where you have no choice, the law caps the price of water: a 330 ml bottle costs no more than €0.50 and a 500 ml bottle no more than €0.60, chilled or not. This applies at airports and ports, stadiums and swimming pools, museums and archaeological sites, cinemas and theatres, theme parks and zoos, hospitals — and on the beaches named in the order. The list is short: Ayia Napa, Protaras and Paralimni, Paphos and Yeroskipou, Polis Chrysochous, Peyia with Coral Bay, and Lemba. At a stadium during a match the same €0.50 and €0.60 apply to water in a cup. The cap applies until 31 December 2026. Charged more — call the free line 1429.

Housing, power, water and phone

Housing together with water, electricity and heating fuel costs 87.0% of the EU average, but this is a national average: the index includes people living in their own homes and does not show what it costs to rent a flat in Limassol. Electricity, gas and heating fuel are at 99.5%, the EU level. Household electricity bills carry 5% VAT instead of the usual 19% until 31 March 2027. How much the rent can rise, how to move power and water into your name and how to choose an operator are covered in separate answers in this guide.

Car, fuel and fares

Transport overall is below the EU average at 85.9%, car fuel at 85.5%. These are 2025 figures: 2026 fuel prices are not in them yet. Current pump prices are on the ministry's «Live Τιμές Καυσίμων» page. What a bus costs and how to pay less is covered in the guide's answer on buses.

Deadlines and conditions

  • 91.6% of the EU averageEurostat, 2025 price levels, EU average = 100: everything households consume, including what the state provides — 91.6.
  • 14th of 27 countriesEurostat, 2025 price levels, EU average = 100. Pricier than Cyprus (91.6) are 13 EU countries: Luxembourg, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Estonia, Malta.
  • groceries — 100.1%Eurostat, 2025 price levels, EU average = 100: food and non-alcoholic drinks — 100.1.
  • dairy and eggs — 127.1%Eurostat, 2025 price levels, EU average = 100: milk, dairy products and eggs — 127.1.
  • meat — 83.5%Eurostat, 2025 price levels, EU average = 100: meat — 83.5.
  • cafés and restaurants — 85.2%Eurostat, 2025 price levels, EU average = 100: restaurants and accommodation — 85.2.
  • car fuel — 85.5%Eurostat, 2025 price levels, EU average = 100: fuel for private vehicles — 85.5.
  • transport overall — 85.9%Eurostat, 2025 price levels, EU average = 100: transport — 85.9.
Show all conditions (24)
  • housing and utilities — 87.0%Eurostat, 2025 price levels, EU average = 100: housing, water, electricity, gas and heating fuel; housing includes the notional rent of owner-occupied homes, so this is a national average, not the price of renting in a city — 87.0.
  • electricity, gas and heating fuel — 99.5%Eurostat, 2025 price levels, EU average = 100: electricity, gas and heating fuel — 99.5.
  • Greece — 84.0% of the EU averageEurostat, 2025 price levels, EU average = 100: Greece, all household consumption — 84.0.
  • fruit, vegetables, infant milk, nappies — VAT-free until 31 December 2027Κ.Δ.Π. 337/2025 (Official Gazette No. 5981, 21.11.2025), paras 2–4: Sixth Schedule — «Παραδόσεις παιδικού γάλακτος» (infant milk), «Παραδόσεις παιδικών πάνων και πάνων ενηλίκων» (baby and adult nappies), «Προϊόντα για την γυναικεία υγιεινή προστασία» (feminine hygiene), fresh vegetables and fruit; «από την 1η Ιανουαρίου, 2026 μέχρι 31η Δεκεμβρίου, 2026». Κ.Δ.Π. 362/2026 (Official Gazette No. 6053, 16.10.2026) — the same list «από την 1η Ιανουαρίου 2027 μέχρι την 31η Δεκεμβρίου 2027».
  • meat and fish — VAT-free since 1 October 2026Κ.Δ.Π. 354/2026 (Official Gazette No. 6050, 30.9.2026), paras 3(α) and 4(α): meat CN 0201–0204, ex 0206, 0207, ex 0208 «νωπά, διατηρημένα με απλή ψύξη ή κατεψυγμένα» (fresh, chilled or frozen), fish CN 0302–0304, «Σουπιές, καλαμάρια και χταπόδια» (cuttlefish, squid, octopus) — «από 1η Οκτωβρίου 2026 μέχρι 31 Μαΐου 2027». Before that the same applied under Κ.Δ.Π. 168/2026, 6.4–30.9.2026.
  • bread, milk, coffee, sugar, baby food — since 12 October 2026Κ.Δ.Π. 354/2026, paras 3(β) and 4(β): «Παραδόσεις ψωμιού, γάλακτος, καφέ, ζάχαρης και παιδικών τροφών» (bread, milk, coffee, sugar and baby food) — «από 12 Οκτωβρίου 2026 μέχρι 31 Μαΐου 2027».
  • until 31 May 2027Κ.Δ.Π. 354/2026, paras 4(α) and 4(β): both parts run «μέχρι 31 Μαΐου 2027».
  • sausages, smoked and processed meat — 5%VAT Law 95(Ι)/2000, art. 18 and Fifth Schedule, Table A, item 7: food except alcohol and soft drinks. The 2025–2026 orders take only the listed goods out of this item (meat CN 0201–0208, fish CN 0302–0304, etc.), so sausages, smoked and processed meat stay at 5%.
  • VAT in cafés and restaurants — 9%VAT Law 95(Ι)/2000, art. 18Α and Twelfth Schedule, item 2: restaurant and catering services.
  • VAT on household electricity — 5% until 31 March 2027Κ.Δ.Π. 167/2026 (Official Gazette No. 6012, 27.3.2026): EAC household tariffs 01, 02, 08 and 56 at 5% «για καταμέτρηση … από την 1.5.2026 μέχρι 31.3.2027».
  • a 330 ml bottle of water — no more than €0.50Κ.Δ.Π. 2/2026 (Official Gazette No. 5990, 2.1.2026), Table B: «Εμφιαλωμένο νερό σε συσκευασία των 330ml … €0,50», «… 500ml … €0,60» — the same chilled («εντός ψυγείου») or not («εκτός ψυγείου»); para 5: «μέχρι τις 31/12/2026».
  • 500 ml — no more than €0.60Κ.Δ.Π. 2/2026 (Official Gazette No. 5990, 2.1.2026), Table B: «Εμφιαλωμένο νερό σε συσκευασία των 330ml … €0,50», «… 500ml … €0,60» — the same chilled («εντός ψυγείου») or not («εκτός ψυγείου»); para 5: «μέχρι τις 31/12/2026».
  • the cap applies until 31 December 2026Κ.Δ.Π. 2/2026 (Official Gazette No. 5990, 2.1.2026), Table B: «Εμφιαλωμένο νερό σε συσκευασία των 330ml … €0,50», «… 500ml … €0,60» — the same chilled («εντός ψυγείου») or not («εκτός ψυγείου»); para 5: «μέχρι τις 31/12/2026».
  • chains with turnover above €5 million a yearLaw 150(Ι)/2023, art. 4(1): «Οι επιχειρήσεις τροφίμων και άλλων προϊόντων με ετήσιο κύκλο εργασιών άνω των πέντε εκατομμυρίων ευρώ (€5.000.000) έχουν υποχρέωση υποβολής τιμών»; art. 2: the «e-καλάθι» platform, www.e-kalathi.gov.cy.
  • prices are collected 2 times a weeke-kofini, «Γενικές Πληροφορίες»: «Η συλλογή των τιμών γίνεται δύο φορές την εβδομάδα από λειτουργούς του Τμήματος Γεωργίας» (prices are collected twice a week by Department of Agriculture officers).
  • free line 1429Consumer Protection Service, «Επικοινωνία»: «Γραμμή Καταναλωτή: 1429», «δωρεάν Γραμμή του Καταναλωτή» (free consumer line).

Bills for a specific flat

A national average will not tell you what your own home will cost: air conditioning in summer and heating in winter matter most. Before you sign, ask the owner or agent for the last year's electricity and water bills — they show what the previous tenants paid in the heat and in the cold.

Sources

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