IPC
Published 5 November 2026, 22:39
IPC — Índice de Preços no Consumidor (consumer price index)
A measure of how much more expensive life has become: every month INE calculates how the price of the same basket of goods and services has changed. Two different figures are derived from the IPC: annual inflation (how much more expensive things are than a year ago) and the average over the last twelve months. Much of what affects people's own finances is tied to the IPC, from the rent update coefficient to the indexation of pensions and benefits.
Where you come across it. News about prices and inflation, a letter from your landlord about a rent increase, announcements on recalculating pensions and benefits.
One name, several figures, and they are easy to mix up. Rent, for example, is updated not in line with annual inflation but with the twelve-month average excluding housing: in August 2026 annual inflation was 3.3%, while this separate figure was 2.56%. There is also the IHPC: the same index calculated under rules common to the European Union, so that countries can be compared with one another; Portuguese rules and contracts use the IPC.
Official website: ine.pt