Cyprus recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 3 per cent in April 2026, according to a report from Eurostat, as price pressures accelerated across the euro area and European Union.

The figure marks a sharp increase from 1.5 per cent in March 2026 and 1.4 per cent in April 2025, highlighting a clear upward trend in consumer prices on the island.

Across the euro area, annual inflation rose to 3.0 per cent in April 2026, up from 2.6 per cent in March, while standing significantly above the 2.2 per cent recorded a year earlier.

For the wider EU, inflation reached 3.2 per cent in April 2026, increasing from 2.8 per cent in March and compared with 2.4 per cent in April 2025, underlining a broad-based rise in price levels across the bloc.

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, said the data reflect continued inflationary pressure across member states, although trends remain uneven.

Among EU countries, the lowest annual inflation rates were recorded in Sweden at 0.5 per cent, Denmark at 1.2 per cent and the Czech Republic at 2.1 per cent.

At the other end of the spectrum, the highest inflation rates were seen in Romania at 9.5 per cent, Bulgaria at 6.0 per cent and Croatia at 5.4 per cent, showing wide divergence in price dynamics across the union.

Eurostat also reported that, compared with March 2026, annual inflation fell in five member states, remained stable in one and increased in 21, indicating that price pressures continue to dominate in most economies.

In terms of inflation drivers, the euro area increase in April was mainly attributed to services, which contributed 1.38 percentage points, followed by energy at 0.99 percentage points.

Additional contributions came from food, alcohol and tobacco, which added 0.46 percentage points, and non-energy industrial goods, which contributed 0.20 percentage points, highlighting the broad base of inflationary pressures.

For Cyprus, the latest figures show a notable acceleration in price growth, with inflation doubling compared with March and more than doubling compared with a year earlier.

The monthly comparison also shows that Cyprus recorded a 2.2 per cent increase in April 2026, indicating continued short-term price momentum alongside rising annual inflation.

The data place Cyprus slightly below the euro area average in annual terms, but still within a context of persistent inflationary pressures across the currency bloc.

Economists typically track the harmonised index of consumer prices as a key benchmark for comparing inflation across EU member states, allowing for consistent measurement of price developments.

While inflation is stabilising in some northern European economies, southern and eastern member states, including Cyprus, are experiencing stronger price growth, particularly in services and energy-linked categories.

Indeed, the latest readings reinforce expectations that inflation dynamics across the euro area will remain uneven, with Cyprus closely following broader European trends but showing a faster monthly acceleration in April.