This is according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), which also revealed that this increase in rent was much higher than that recorded a year earlier, of 4.5%, which is also the most pronounced growth in the last 30 years.

The increase in rents was felt in all regions, with emphasis on Lisbon and the North.

Looking at the stock of rented housing in Portugal, the INE reveals that the average annual variation in the value of house rents per square metre of usable area was 7.0% in 2024 (4.5% in 2023). You have to go back to 1994 to find such a significant increase, of around 7.5%, writes Público.

Although this increase in house rents in 2024 was felt in all regions, it was in the North and Greater Lisbon where tenants felt the increase in housing expenses the most (+7.2%) during the past year.

What is striking is that house rents have risen by more than 7% compared to the previous year since April this year. And December was no exception: “The annual variation in housing rents per square metre was 7.2% in December 2024 (7.1% in the previous month)”, highlights the IBGE in the bulletin released this Monday, 13th January. All regions also saw house rents rise that month, with the Autonomous Region of Madeira recording the most intense increase (8.2%).

Compared to the previous month, the average value of housing rents per square metre recorded a variation of 0.3% (0.4% in November). “The region with the greatest monthly variation was the Autonomous Region of Madeira (0.7%), with the other regions showing positive annual variations”, it also reads.

Thus, housing is once again one of the indicators that most contributes to the evolution of inflation in Portugal, which stood at 2.4% in 2024 and 3% in December. This is because the increase in house rent alone is almost three times greater than the general increase in prices.