Groceries, rent, insurance and electricity: Where are Irish consumers feeling the pinch?

As new research shows Dublin households are facing the highest electricity costs in the European Union, what other cost pressures are consumers facing when it comes to groceries, car insurance and rent?

Groceries

The cost of bread and other foods like rice, pasta, pizza and breakfast cereals has increased by 8 per cent in the 12 months up to this July, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) consumer price index.

The price of meat increased by 6.7 per cent in the last year to July, with the cost of eggs, cheese and milk up 8.6 per cent in the same period.

Meanwhile, the cost of vegetables, as well as sugar and chocolate products, increased by 11 per cent, according to the CSO index.

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Similarly, more recent research by analysts Kantar put the increase in the cost of groceries in Irish supermarkets at just under 13 per cent, in the year up to the start of August.

The most recent comparison of inflation across the European Union said the rate of inflation in Ireland was at an estimated 4.6 per cent in the 12 months to July.

Ireland had the ninth lowest level of inflation out of the 27 EU countries, according to the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, which draws pricing comparisons across the EU.

Rent

The national average asking price for household rents between April and June this year was 10 per cent higher than the same period in 2022, according to quarterly data from property website Daft.ie published earlier this month.

The figures, which are drawn from rental property asking prices on its website, noted the rate of increase in rent for new tenancies had slowed to 0.3 per cent in Dublin, but was up 4.3 per cent outside of the capital.

There were fewer than 1,200 properties advertised for rent on daft.ie during the second quarter of 2023, with the average asking price for rent at €1,792.

Car insurance

When it comes to car insurance, figures published earlier this year show there had been a five per cent drop in average premiums in the first half of last year, compared to prices for 2021.

The data from the Central Bank shows average premiums hit a high point in recent years of €710 at the end of 2017, falling to a low of €575 in the first quarter of last year. The figures were released in the financial regulator’s midyear report from the National Claims Information Database.

Electricity

Household electricity costs in Dublin are the highest in the EU, according to new research commissioned by the Austrian and Hungarian energy regulators.

Figures in the Household Energy Price Index report suggest Irish households may be paying on average more than €800 more for electricity than their EU counterparts. While wholesale electricity prices have dropped significantly in recent months, suppliers have yet to pass on significant reductions in household bills.