Executive summary
- In January 2020, telecommunications prices, as measured by the sub-index of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose by 0.13% compared to the previous month. The increase resulted from the change in pre-paid mobile internet tariffs (PC/tablet) from one service provider.
- The year-on-year variation in prices was -4.36%. This fall in prices mainly reflects the entry into force on 15 May 2019 of new European rules that regulate intra-EU communications. Year-on-year variations in telecommunications prices have been lower than the growth in the CPI since November 2017.
- The average variation rate in telecommunications prices in the last 12 months was -3.06%, which was 3.42 percentage points (p.p.) lower than that of the CPI (0.36%), the largest negative deviation since February 2009.
- In January 2020, the average variation rate for telecommunications prices in Portugal was lower than that in the EU (-3.0 p.p.). The average variation rate of telecommunications prices in Portugal in the last 12 months was the 26th highest among the EU countries. The country with the highest price rise was Romania (+4.5%), while Italy experienced the greatest reduction (-6.4%). On average, telecommunications prices in the EU remained stable.
- Between the end of 2009 and January 2020, telecommunications prices in Portugal rose 7.7%, while falling 10.0% in the European Union. The difference narrowed with the entry into force on 15 May 2019 of the new European rules that regulate the prices of intra-EU communications.
