Three out of four Portuguese families have difficulty paying the bills | Consumption

Three out of four families had difficulty paying their bills in 2023, according to the annual Deco Proteste barometer, which highlights housing as a “key factor in the financial squeeze” and Alentejo and Centro as the regions with the most difficulties.

Aimed at measuring the ability of Portuguese families to pay day-to-day expenses in six areas — food, education, housing, leisure, mobility and health —, the barometer surveyed nearly 7,000 people, with 75% admitting they had difficulties in pay off their accounts and 7% are in a “critical situation”. “The housing crisis emerges as one of the main factors in the financial strain of Portuguese families, suppressing any relief provided by the decline in inflation”, highlights Deco Proteste.

Pointing to the increase in interest rates as “one of the reasons why almost 28% of families face difficulties paying their bank loans”, the consumer protection association notes that “the value of rents also contributed to the difficulties experienced”, with 23% of tenants “struggling to pay rent for their homes”.

Although expenses on mobility, health and food have improved, the barometer indicates that inflation “continues to negatively affect a considerable number of Portuguese people”: around a third (31%) of families reveal that they experience “much more” difficulties in paying expenses essential, while 4% say it is a “mission impossible” and only a minority (6%) did not feel the impact of rising prices of goods.

Single-parent and large families, as well as those in which one of the members is unemployed, stand out as those that present the most difficulties, and, in the case of single-parent families, the available data indicate that “there are around 75,000 in Portugal face a situation of extreme poverty”. In an analysis by regions, Alentejo and Centro are highlighted as those where people live with the most difficulty, with Castelo Branco being the district in the worst situation and Bragança where people live “with the greatest ease”.

Based on the results of the survey, the association concludes that “the Portuguese people’s prospects for the remaining months of 2024 are not optimistic” and predicts “an increase in financial difficulties in the current context of inflation and uncertainty about the evolution of interest rates of housing credit”.

Food (meat, fish, vegetables and fruit, etc.), household bills (gas, electricity and water, etc.) and health are the expenses where, according to Deco Proteste, the biggest increases are expected. In 2023, in ranking of the 10 expenses that increased the most, house rent (+11% compared to 2022), restaurants (+7%), loan (+6%), long vacations (+6%), books and streaming (+4%), higher education (+4%), concerts, theater, cinema, museums (+4%), sporting activities (+4%), health (+4%) and vegetables and fruit (+4%) .

The Deco Proteste survey was carried out between December 2023 and February 2024, and 6734 valid responses were collected. In order to reflect the reality of the universe of Portuguese families, the data were weighted by age, gender, region and educational qualifications.