The SREA and INE revealed yesterday that the 2024 inflation rate in the Azores was 2.03%, and in the country, it was 2.42%.
The regional monthly year-on-year rate of change was 2.72%, while the national rate was 3.01%.
The monthly rate of change was 0.46% in the Azores and 0.11% in Portugal.
According to the SREA, the average rate of change over the last twelve months, ending in December, corresponding to the inflation rate 2024 of the “Total” Consumer Price Index, was 2.03% in the Azores.
The biggest positive average variations were in the “Communications” (5.70%), “Restaurants and hotels” (4.62%), “Health” (3.98%), “Alcoholic beverages and tobacco” (3.58%) and “Food products and non-alcoholic beverages” (3.27%) classes.
On the other hand, the class with the biggest negative average change was “Clothing and footwear” with -3.36%.
The national average rate of change over the last twelve months, or the inflation rate for 2024 in the country, was 2.42%.

Inflation rose in December.

The year-on-year rate of change in the “Total” Consumer Price Index for December stood at 2.72%, up 0.49 percentage points on the rate published the previous month.
The national year-on-year rate was 3.01%.
The monthly rate for the December “Total” index was 0.46%, up 1.15 percentage points from the previous month.
The “Transportation” class, with 5.70%, stood out most in the upward direction, while in the downward direction, it was the “Clothing and footwear” class, with -1.36%.
The monthly rate at the national level was 0.11%.

Communications, restaurants, hotels, and food continue to rise

The inflation rate fell in the Azores in 2024, but some categories of products remain higher than the general average rate, leading some consumers to perceive that they don’t feel the price drops.
This is most often the case with foodstuffs, which have a greater weight in families’ baskets and whose inflation rate in 2024 was 3.27% (Food Products and Non-Alcoholic Beverages), much higher than the general average rate but much lower than the previous year when it reached a record 12.21%.
Communications were even more expensive last year, with the highest inflation rate at 5.7%, higher than the previous year.
Along the same lines of higher inflation are restaurants and hotels, with a rate of 4.62%, still well below the 11.49% recorded in 2023.
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco also saw inflation rise to 3.58%.

Health is also more expensive

Health, meanwhile, registered inflation of 3.98%.
The only categories with negative inflation were Energy Products (-0.49%), Clothing and Footwear (-3.36%), Accessories, Equipment, Current Household Maintenance (-0.46%), and Leisure, Recreation, and Culture (-0.03%).

In Diário dos Açores-Osvaldo Cabral, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.