Irish households are feeling the pinch as the cost of living crisis in the country shows no signs of easing.
Rising inflation has caused people across the country to make efforts to cut corners and save but unfortunately, prices look set to increase even further from this month. Groceries, nights out and energy bills are all expected to see increases from September as the Government prepares to announce a string of supports for middle-income earners in Budget 2023.
And one area we know has been hit with crippling price increases is electricity and gas, with three major suppliers already announcing massive jumps in their prices for the autumn.
But what else could go up? Here are the price increases you can expect to see from next month.
Read more: Electric Ireland confirm huge increase in gas and electricity prices
Energy bills
Irish consumers can also expect further energy bills to increase as demand rises.
According to CSO figures, electricity costs jumped by more than 86 per cent in 12 months, which has already led to spiralling household power bills. The Wholesale Price Index for July also found that the cost of electricity went up by more than 86 per cent.
The increases meant that, on average, households are paying €900 more a year for their electricity and €800 more for their gas than at the start of 2021.
Electric Ireland has announced a whopping increase to its gas and electricity prices which are set to kick in as winter begins.
Residential electricity bills will rise by 26.7% while residential gas bills will go up by 37.5% from October 1. The move comes just a day after PrepayPower announced a €750 hike in gas and electricity prices. The increase will see electricity prices rise by 19 per cent, while gas prices will rise by 29 per cent.
SSE Airtricity also announced hikes last week. SSE Airtricity customers will see an increase in electricity charges by more than 35 per cent and an increase in gas costs by 39 per cent from the start of October.
Grocery shopping
Figures released by the Central Statistics Office have revealed that Irish consumers will be faced with paying more for essentials such as dairy products and fish in the coming weeks as wholesale costs sky-rocket.
Wholesale prices are the amount charged to large distributors, not the customer - but the increase will likely be passed on to the customer over the coming weeks.
Producers were forced to up the price of milk, eggs and cheese by 53 per cent in the past year, while monthly wholesale pricing for fish also shot up by nearly 20 per cent.
Meat also increased by more than 13 per cent between July 2021 and July 2022.
The increasing price of energy has also contributed to the rising costs of these goods due to the need for energy-intensive tasks such as milking, which are essential in the manufacturing process.
Night-out
The price of a night out in Ireland is set to increase significantly from September 1.
The cost of a taxi will increase by a whopping 12 per cent as the National Transport Authority Board approved the rise in June, saying the increase for customers "reflects the increase in operating costs faced by taxi drivers."
This will mark the first climb in price since 2018, when the fare initially rose by around 4.5%
Anne Graham, CEO of the National Transport Authority, told RTE's Morning Ireland in April: "If you look back, we haven't actually seen an increase in taxi fares since 2017/2018, so that's five years since there have been any increases on taxi fares.
"That represents about 2.5/3 per cent a year which is reasonable if you think about the increase in the cost of living over those years."
Ms Graham said the increase would also apply to fares at peak times in order to encourage drivers to make themselves available at unsociable hours.
She said: "What we are trying to do then is ensure that we have as many drivers available at the peak times, which is when people are looking for taxis, particularly at night time.
"So we've rebalanced the fares a little bit to ensure that there is more of a payment in the evening periods, in the premium period, to encourage more drivers to be available in those at those times."
She said that the pandemic had also resulted in almost ten per cent of drivers leaving the industry, adding that the National Transport Authority hopes the increased fares would encourage some drivers to return.
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