The year 2025 should be marked by a drop in the inflation rate, but families will face a general increase in the prices of some goods and services, such as tolls, rent, telecommunications and bread.
Electricity prices are an exception, as both in the regulated and liberalized markets, tariffs are expected to fall next year.
Families in the regulated electricity market would have a tariff increase of 2.1% from January, but, in practice, with fees and taxes, they will have reductions of between R$0.82 and R$0.88, per bill of the legislative change that increases the value of energy consumption subject to the reduced VAT rate (6%), approved in parliament.
In the liberalized market, which represents the vast majority of total consumption, in mainland Portugal, EDP Comercial and Galp announced reductions of 6% in the electricity component of the bill, due to improved market conditions (in the case of Galp in force since December 1st).
Meanwhile, an official EDP source stated that EDP Comercial customer bills should fall by an average of 7%, starting January 1st.
Another exception to the rise in prices must be bullfighting shows, due to the drop in VAT from 23% to 6% on tickets.
Here are the main price increases coming next year:
Tolls
Motorway tolls are expected to increase by 2.21% in 2025, based on the value of annual inflation without housing in October determined by the National Statistics Institute (INE), plus 0.1% compensation to concessionaires.
The formula that establishes how the increase in toll prices is calculated each year is set out in decree-law no. 294/97 and establishes that the variation to be practiced each year is based on the annual inflation rate without housing on the continent verified in the last month for which data is available before November 15, the deadline for concessionaires to communicate their price proposals to the Government for the following year. According to data released on Monday by INE, that inflation reference was 2.11%.
To this value, 0.1% is added, following the agreement signed in 2022 with highway concessionaires to compensate them for the brake that was then imposed at an increase of around 10% in 2023.
Brisa announced a 2.21% increase on 52 of the 93 toll rates applied to class 1 on the highways under its concession.
In practical terms, crossing the Vasco da Gama and 25 de Abril bridges is five cents more expensive for class 1 vehicles and for those in the highest class the increase is up to 25 and 15 cents, respectively.
The Lisbon/Porto route is 70 cents higher than in 2024 and going from Lisbon to the Algarve will cost 60 cents more.
At the same time, tolls are no longer paid on some old Scuts, namely the A4; A13 and 13-1; A22; A23; A24; A25 and A28.
Transport
Public passenger transport will increase by 2.02% next year, according to the fare update rate based on INE data on inflation.
Navegante passes will maintain their prices in 2025 in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, as will occasional tickets for Carris Metropolitana.
The occasional Carris/Metro ticket increases by five cents.
In the Porto Metropolitan Area, prices also remain unchanged for both the Metropolitan Pass and the Municipal Pass.
On the other hand, an increase in the price of tickets purchased on board, on the Unir network, is expected, with shorter distances increasing by 10 cents, intermediate distances by 20 cents and longer distances by 30 cents.
The Circula.PT pass (which replaces the Social+ pass) now has a 50% discount on the fare and its scope is also expanded in relation to its predecessor, covering citizens with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 60% proven by a Medical Certificate of Multipurpose Disability, and a 25% discount for long-term unemployed.
Circula PT also covers the entire territory of mainland Portugal, unlike Social+, which only served the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto.
Gas
The tariffs and prices approved by the Energy Services Regulatory Agency (), which include a 6.9% increase for natural gas for families in the regulated market, are maintained until September 30th.
Lace
After having had the highest increase in the last 30 years in 2024, rents could rise by 2.16% in 2025, according to the notice of the income update coefficient published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
In practice, this increase is equivalent to an increase of 2.16 euros for every 100 euros of rent, which means that a rent of 750 euros could increase by 16.20 euros next year.
Taking into account the current rules, for some tenants the increase may be more pronounced, as owners who have not updated the rent in the last two years will be able to add the coefficients from 2023 and 2024 to the 2.16% of 2025, in a total of 11.1%.
But it may also happen that there is no increase, as updating rents is not mandatory and the landlord can choose not to do it.
Telecommunications
Altice Portugal’s communications prices will increase next year, as contractually stipulated, except for Uzo and Moche. NOS will maintain the tariffs, as will Vodafone Portugal, although this operator admits “specific” changes limited to a reduced number of situations and services for business customers.
At the end of November, an official source from Altice Portugal, which owns Meo, said that it will update prices in 2025, as contractually foreseen and already disclosed, with the exception of the services of the digital brand Uzo and the brand for the youth segment, Moche , which will not be updated.
In turn, an official NOS source said, at the time, that “it will not increase its prices in 2025”, a decision that “is transversal” to all of the company’s services and tariffs.
In response to Lusa, at the end of December, Vodafone Portugal reported that “it will not have price updates in 2025 for the majority of its customers”, adding that “there will be specific cases of updates, limited to a reduced number of business products and services , in line with contractual conditions – notably the inflation rate calculated for 2024”. These changes, says the operator, will be communicated in a personalized way to the customers served.
Leite
The price of milk and dairy products is expected to continue rising from January onwards, maintaining the trajectory seen 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 balance in the three links of the business – production, distribution and consumers.
Bread
Bread will become more expensive in 2025, due to production costs and the national minimum wage.
Despite the prices, bakery and pastry sales recorded, in 2024, a slight increase in value, but there was a drop in quantity.
Consumers continue to focus on “the classics”, such as traditional bread and cream puffs, but they are also increasingly looking at innovative products, such as wholemeal breads and plant-based pastries.
Café
After the increase in coffee prices in international markets, an increase of 10 to 30 cents is expected in each cup of coffee.
Tobacco and drinks
Although the tax on these products has not increased, the price of stamps on tobacco packets for sale in 2025, to be borne by tobacco companies, will increase by 4%, which, according to some tax experts, could cause a rise in the final price of tobacco.
Bank commissions
Having an account or using banking services will also become more expensive in 2025, but the new prices come into force on different dates depending on the banks. At BCP, for example, the new price list arrives on February 1st and at Novo Banco on March 1st.
Museums
Museus e Monumentos de Portugal increases the price of tickets to most of the facilities managed by it, which vary between two and seven euros.
The biggest increases are seen in some of the most visited facilities in the country, such as the Torre de Belém, the Museu Nacional dos Coches (includes entry to the Picadeiro Real), the National Museum of Archeology and the National Palaces of Ajuda and Mafra. At the Jerónimos Monastery the entrance price increases from eight to 15 euros.
Other museums have their entrance fees increased from 10 to 15 euros. These are the National Museum of Ancient Art (Lisbon), the Convent of Christ (Tomar) and the Alcobaça Monastery.
The price remains unchanged at the Museu Nacional do Traje and the Museu Nacional do Teatro e da Dança, both in Lisbon, but there are cultural facilities that increase twice as much, such as the National Museum of Ethnology, in Lisbon, and the National Museum of Música, which will open in Mafra in 2025, or Paço dos Duques de Bragança, in Guimarães, from five to 10 euros.
However, for national residents, access to 37 museums, monuments and palaces remains free, 52 times a year and any day of the week.
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