2024 will again see an overall increase in the prices consumers will have to pay for the services they use every day, despite a slowdown in inflation, which stood at 1.5% in November.
The price of electricity will increase by 3.7% for families who remain in the regulated market, as already announced by ERSE – Entidade Reguladora dos Serviços Energéticos, and price increases are also starting to be announced on the free market.
Motorway tolls are expected to rise by 2.04% in 2024 and rents will be renewed by 6.94%, the highest since 1994, with the rise partly mitigated by increased support for tenants and shares income, which may reduce the IRS. .
Already known price updates for this year are as follows:
BREAD
The price of bread will rise again next year due to rising production costs, the Association of Trade and Industry of Bakery, Confectionery and Similar Products (ACIP) told Lusa.
“Adjustments will have to be made to selling prices to mitigate the increase in input costs,” ACIP Supervisory Board President Helder Pires said in response to Lusa, without specifying the figures.
In addition to raw material prices, the sector has also been hit by wage costs, which also points to difficulties in recruiting labor.
ELECTRICITY
The price of electricity on the regulated market in January will rise by 3.7% compared to December, higher than the ERSE – Entidade Reguladora dos Serviços Energéticos forecast in October.
This increase in transition tariffs for sales to end consumers slows down the work of those “who remain on the regulated market (representing 6.3% of total consumption and 936 thousand customers at the end of October 2023) or who, being on the free market, have chosen a comparable bet.”
In terms of the average annual change in transition tariffs sold to end-customers on low normal voltage (LVN) networks, this is 2.9%, and “these increases are in line with the inflation forecast for 2024, representing zero change in real terms.” “, he pointed out.
“This tariff increase, higher than that announced in October, is due to a larger difference in the cost of PRG products than originally anticipated,” the regulator explained.
In the liberalized market, EDP Comercial announced that it would cut its “energy” component by 21% from January due to “more favorable market conditions” in a bid to soften increases in network access tariffs, but without expecting final rates.
Galp has told consumers it will raise electricity prices, saying it will not be able to meet the increase in grid access tariffs set by the regulator.
GAS
Natural gas rates for households in the regulated market rose 0.6% in October compared to prices set in September.
Compared to the average gas price of the previous year (2022-2023), the final selling price for consumers on the regulated market increased by an average of 1.3%.
This increase implied an average monthly increase of ten to 15 cents for the two most representative categories of clients: couples with two children and couples without children, respectively.
Galp, in turn, increased prices by an average of 4%, and EDP cut gas prices by about 20% starting in October.
LACE
Rents will reset by 6.94% in 2024, the highest since 1994, with that increase partially offset by increased renter support and the portion of rents that the IRS can cut.
In contrast to what happened in 2023, when rental rates were limited to 2%, in 2024 they could rise in line with the inflation rate that guides their renewal and which, according to the value calculated by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) ), is 6.94%.
However, for some tenants the increase may be more pronounced because the law allows the landlord to add the cost of the previous two years to that cost if they choose not to renew the rent in 2022 and 2022.
In these cases, 6.94% may be added to the 2% allowed in 2023 and 0.43% for the previous year. But it may also happen that the increase will not happen, since the rent renewal is not mandatory and the landlord can refuse it.
FEES
Inflation, which serves as a guide for the annual update of toll fees, points to an increase of 1.94% in 2024, to which must be added the 0.1% that concessionaires can apply as compensation for the price increase cap imposed on them in 2023.
Thus, combining the inflation rate that serves as a benchmark for toll increases with its expected counterpart results in an increase of 2.04%, less than half the increase seen in 2023.
But the arrival of the new year will also bring price reductions, especially in terms of tolls on several sections and subsections of the old SCUTs in the interior and the Algarve.
According to the company, from January 1, Briza concession tolls will increase by 2.1%, with “only 33 of the 93 toll rates applicable to Class 1 vehicles will be updated.”
“Of the total fees applicable to the Brisa Autoestradas network, 40% will remain in 2024, with no change in value compared to 2023.”
The concessionaire gave some examples: the price of a trip between Lisbon and Porto increased by 0.45 cents, and between Lisbon and Algarve by 0.30 cents for class 1.
Among the routes whose prices remain unchanged are the Lisbon-Cascais route or the Ermesinde-Valongo route.
TRANSPORT
CP – Comboios de Portugal today announced new prices for 2024: the average increase in tickets for Alfa Pendular and Celta will be 6.25%, and for other tickets – by 6.43%.
According to a statement published by CP, “the cost of subscriptions and passes will not change.”
Taking into account the new fares that come into force on January 1, an Alfa Pendular ticket between Lisbon and Porto in second class one way, for example, will rise in price from 31.90 to 33.90 euros.
The same route, but on Intercidades, costs 26.85 euros, compared to the current 25.25 euros.
Navegante passes for circulation in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon (AML) will retain their price in 2024, but for those who do not have a monthly pass, travel in the capital’s metro will become more expensive: new tariffs for single tickets will be updated on January 1, and in the case of a ticket on the metro (and Carris if purchased in advance) it will cost €1.80, down from €1.65 so far, representing an increase of 9% or 15 cents.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Three major telecom operators Meo (Altice Portugal), NOS and Vodafone Portugal will raise prices next year after regulator Anacom asked a month ago to “contain” the increase.
According to information available on the website, Meo “will update its prices in accordance with the current contractual conditions.” Regarding the monthly fee for mobile postpaid services, the update is effective January 1, 2024, with a contractual minimum charge of 50 cents including VAT.
On February 1, monthly payments for fixed television and convergent services will be updated.
“Additional mobile cards will be subject to a contractually agreed upon minimum value of 50 cents (incl. VAT),” Meo’s website states.
In turn, NOS explains that “the inflationary context is exacerbating costs in the communications sector” and that in this context “this will lead to an update in service prices,” according to the IPC.
“This update applies to the monthly service fee as well as additional cap charges” and “the new prices will take effect on February 1, 2024, and each customer will be able to review their specific update on the NOS website from January 23, 2024.” “, he adds.
Vodafone Portugal also states on its website that it will update the prices of its telecommunications services from 1 February 2024, with the increase calculated using IPC.
INSPECTION
The cost of a car inspection in 2024 will rise by €1.70 to €35.89, and a motorcycle inspection will rise by 86 cents to €18.08.
According to the Institute of Mobility and Transport (IMT), the basic cost of mandatory periodic inspection (IPO) for passenger cars, excluding VAT, is rising to €29.18 from the current €27.80.
In turn, the technical inspection of motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles will increase from 14.00 euros to 14.70 euros.
Among heavy vehicles, the base price increased by 2.08 euros, rising from 41.69 to 43.68 euros. Including VAT, the increase will be 2.56 euros, which amounts to 53.73 euros for customers.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.