Household bills rose by 2,500
…in the past 12 months alone as raging inf lation and energy cost spiral into crisis
HOUSEHOLDERS are forking out almost €2,500 more than last year on average as a result of continuously soaring prices.
The most recent estimate of household spending by the Central Statistics Office in 2016 showed an average of €837.47 was being spent per week. When the rates for each subsequent year are added, the household spend rises to €849.29 per week for 2020 and €896.17 last year, a rise of €2,437.76 since last year.
Dermott Jewell, policy and council adviser of the Consumers’ Association of Ireland, described the increase as ‘a decidedly worrying sum of money’.
And he said he expects the cost of living to rise even more over the coming months.
Mr Jewell told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘Prices are continuing to increase. There’s no foreseeable reduction in fuel and energy.’
‘This is going to be a horrendous year’
The CSO’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December 2021 shows a motorist who spent €20 a week on fuel at the end of 2020 is now paying over €350 extra over the course of a year. And that number jumps to €876.20 extra per year for a motorist who spent €50 a week on fuel in 2020.
There has been a massive year-on-year jump of 52.8% in home heating oil, resulting in an oil tank that could be filled for €800 in 2020 now costing €1,222.40 to fill.
And a household that spent €2,000 on gas and electricity in 2020 can expect an annual bill of around €2,500 at present rates.
Rents have also risen across private and public tenancies. A private dwelling that cost €1,500 a month to rent in 2020 would now cost an additional €125 per month or €1,500 a year.
‘Worst of all,’ said Mr Jewell, is that food prices have increased. has shown that for those prices to come down, it will take the closest thing to a miracle.’
The CPI shows staples such as bread and pasta have gone up by 5.4% and 6.3% respectively.
Mr Jewell said: ‘The average increase is 4% on a basic basket of food, and by that I mean bread, milk, tea, coffee, butter and cheese. If you start adding things like pasta, various meat products and a variety of other things, it will certainly exceed the 4% and would probably be up around 5% to 5.5%.
‘The best way of putting it is, if that’s an individual buying on their own out of a pension, they will have had an increase of €5 in the budget, which is only 2%.’
Mr Jewell welcomed the Government’s pledge to go further than the €210m scheme announced in December that will grant households €100 towards their energy bills.
‘VAT has to be looked at too; it’s all got to be mulled over in the next week,’ he said.
While wages have not gone up in line with inflation, Mr Jewell said demands are likely to be made by employees who are returning to the workplace and spending more on fuel and transport.
‘The reality of life is that busi‘History
nesses have to be able to afford the increases, and it depends what trade you’re in,’ he said.
‘If you’re in the hospitality sector, where are you going to get an increase? The only way is if the prices go up, and if you and I have to face price increases even for the once-a-week outing to a restaurant, that is going to turn straight back around and affect the restaurant, because people aren’t going to go.
‘It sure is a vicious circle and we haven’t been in this situation for a long time, and that’s why it’s posing so many problems.
‘We did have significant inflation in the past, but not at this level and not with the key one being the cost of fuel and energy. This is a whole new challenge with the level that it’s at.
‘This is going to be a horrendous year with challenges that many people won’t be able to meet in terms of trying to manage a budget – under any circumstances, for anybody, but especially the low-paid and those on welfare. No question.’