How inflation affects different households - What CSO data tells us

Yes, depending on factors such as income, housing costs, your age, household size or location, and what you spend your money on, you can experience a higher rate of inflation than the national average.

The CSO measures the overall change in the prices of goods and services that people typically buy over time, and this information is used to calculate the average annual rate of inflation, published as the Consumer Price Index or CPI. However, each household has its own unique pattern of buying goods and services and therefore its own personal experience of inflation.

New analysis by the CSO breaking down inflation by household characteristics shows that in the 12 months to June 2026, the overall rate of inflation in Ireland rose by 3.4%. However, where the head of the household was under the age of 35, they experienced a higher rate of inflation at 3.9%.

Households that rented also faced a higher rate of inflation of 3.7%, as did some lower income households (3.6%), households with one adult (3.6%), households without children (3.5%), and rural households (3.5%).

Two key trends that stand out between 2021 and 2026 relate to age and whether a household owns or rents their home. 

The first time we looked at how inflation affects different types of households was in March 2022. At that time, in terms of age, households headed by someone aged 65 and over were impacted the most by above average inflation while households headed by someone aged under 35 experienced below average inflation. By 2026, this trend reversed and now households headed by those aged under 35 experience higher than average inflation, while those headed by people aged 65 and over have lower than average inflation.

For households headed by someone aged under 35, the main contributors to a higher rate of inflation were their spend on rent, restaurants, and hotels. Spending on restaurants and hotels also includes spending on bars and takeaways.

The last time we looked at how inflation affects different types of households was in September 2023, and at that time, households with a mortgage experienced a much higher rate of inflation, as did higher income households, those with only one adult, and urban households. The main drivers of inflation at that time were mortgage interest payments, restaurants, and hotels. At that time, households with a mortgage were the group with by far the highest level of annual inflation while households who rented had lower than average annual inflation.

Our 2026 analysis found that for lower income households, their spend on rent, electricity, gas, and other fuels played the largest role in their higher estimated rate of inflation over the 12 months to June 2026 followed by transport, restaurants and hotels.

While prices are increasing for many items, the annual rate of inflation has generally fallen from a high of 9.2% in October 2022 to below 2.0% in August 2024. Since August 2025 it has been creeping up and ranged from 2.7% to 3.7% as of August 2026. Unsurprisingly, the price of fuel has been pushing up inflation, particularly given the uncertainty around the situation in the Middle East.

In addition, the spend on restaurants and hotels, transport, gas, electricity, and other fuels were the largest drivers of inflation in the 12 months to June 2026. Restaurants and hotel price changes were responsible for more than one-fifth of the annual change in the CPI, followed by transport and electricity, gas and other fuels costs.

We have been measuring the rate of inflation in Ireland for decades, which means we can provide a long-term view of price changes. Each month we collect about 51,000 prices for a representative basket of goods and services from outlets throughout the country to measure the rate of inflation. From this we can see that in the five years since June 2021 to June 2026, the overall rate of inflation for goods and services in Ireland has risen by 24.5%.

Over those five years, the index for mortgage interest payments rose by 91.5%, prices for electricity, gas and other fuels were 69.8% higher, and the index for rent was up 39.5%.

This means that household groups that spend higher than average proportions of their total expenditure on these items have experienced higher inflation than the overall CPI. While the costs of goods and services for the average household in Ireland rose by 24.5% in the last five years, households that rent experienced the highest level at 25.9%, followed by those with a mortgage, those headed by people aged under 35 years, those with just one adult, and lower income households.