The cost of bread, milk, rent, telecommunications and transport will increase in the new year.

The year 2025 should see a drop in inflation, but families will face increased prices of some services and goods, such as bread, milk, rent, telecommunications and transport.

Electricity prices are an exception, as tariffs are expected to fall next year. From January, families in the regulated electricity market will see a tariff increase of 2.1%. However, in practice, with fees and taxes, they will see reductions of between €0.82 and €0.88 because of the change in legislation that increases the amount of energy consumption subject to the reduced VAT rate (6%), approved in parliament.

EDP Comercial and Galp liberalised market consumers, who make up the vast majority of total consumption in mainland Portugal, will see a 6% reduction in the electricity component of their bill.

Galp already enforced this reduction on December 1 due to improved market conditions. Meanwhile, an official EDP source stated that EDP Comercial customer bills should fall by an average of 7%, starting January 1.

The main price increases coming next year:

Tolls

Motorway tolls are expected to increase by 2.21% in 2025, based on the National Statistics Institute (INE) ‘s October estimate of “annual inflation without housing”, plus 0.1% compensation to concessionaires.

Decree-law no. 294/97 establishes the formula for calculating the annual increase in toll prices. Each year, the variation is based on the “annual inflation rate without housing on the continent, verified in the last month for which data was available, before November 15,” which is the deadline for concessionaires to communicate their price proposals to the Government for the following year.

According to data released last week by the INE, that inflation reference was 2.11%.

A further 0.1% will be added to this value, following an agreement signed in 2022 with motorway concessionaires to compensate them for the break imposed on an increase of around 10% in 2023.

However, there is good news for ex-SCUT users. From January 1, traffic on the A4, A13, A13-1, A22, A23, A24, A25 and A28 (between Esposende and Antas, and between Neiva and Darque) will be exempt from toll payments.

Transport

According to the fare update rate, based on the INE’s inflation data, public passenger transport will increase by 2.02% next year. However, the prices of the Navegante travel cards and Carris tickets will remain the same in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area this coming year.

Rent

According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), following the most significant increase in the last 30 years in 2024, rents could rise by 2.16% in 2025. In practice, this increase is equivalent to an increase of €2.16 for every €100 of rent, which means that a rent of €750 could increase by €16.20 next year.

Considering the current rules, the increase may be more pronounced for some tenants. Landlords who have not updated their rent in the last two years will be able to add the 2023 and 2024 coefficients to the 2.16% of 2025, for a total of 11.1%.

However, some may not see their rent increase, as updating rents is not mandatory, and landlords can choose not to do so.

Telecommunications

Altice Portugal’s communications prices will increase next year, as contractually stipulated, except for Uzo and Moche, NOS will maintain the tariffs, and Vodafone Portugal is still unable to provide information on the subject.

At the end of November, an official source from Altice Portugal, which owns MEO, revealed the company would update its prices in 2025, as contractually foreseen and already disclosed. However, the services of the digital brand Uzo and the brand for the youth segment, Moche, will not be updated.

In turn, an official NOS source said that “it will not increase its prices in 2025,” a “transversal” decision that affected all of the company’s services and tariffs.

An official source from Vodafone Portugal told Lusa in November that the operator cannot anticipate possible price updates, which is still the case today.

Milk

The price of milk and dairy products should continue to rise from January onwards, maintaining the trajectory observed in the last months of 2024.

Production costs, particularly diesel and electricity, have driven up the price of dairy products.

Faced with this scenario, producers defend predictability and the balance between the business’s three links: production, distribution, and consumers.

Bread

Bread will become more expensive in 2025, piggybacking on production costs and the national minimum wage.

Despite the prices, bakery and pastry sales registered a slight increase in value in 2024, but there was a drop in quantity.

Consumers continue to focus on “the classics,” such as traditional bread and pasteis de nata. However, they are also increasingly experimenting with innovative products like wholemeal bread and plant-based pastries.

LUSA