Will 2026 leave us richer or poorer and can households expect much relief from continued high energy costs?
2025 was another strained year for many households' finances. Inflation began to creep back up and prices for groceries, health insurance, education and electricity in particular saw some big increases.
And while mortgage rates did dip a little, for most people day-to-day living costs remained stubbornly high.
So as we move into 2026, the question is whether that pressure will finally ease — or whether more strain lies ahead.
Here's a look at what consumers can expect next year...
Pensions
Expect to hear lots of talk about pensions and auto-enrolment in early 2026.
An auto-enrolment scheme, where workers are automatically enrolled in a pension into which both the Government and the employer make contributions, has long been mooted in Ireland, and similar schemes have been in operation in the UK and Australia for years. Indeed, Ireland is the only country in the OECD without such a scheme.
Now, after years and years of delays and false starts, the scheme is finally set to go live from 1st January after being delayed for one final time in September.
The scheme will initially see both employers and employees put in 1.5% of their earnings for the first three years with the Government topping it up with 0.5%. This will gradually increase over the coming years so that by year ten, both employers and employees will be contributing 6% of salary, with the Government putting in an additional 2%.
If you’re already contributing to a pension, then the scheme won't really have much of an impact on you. But if you’re not, then you’ll have to start paying into one, so you'll see a slight fall in your take home pay from 1st January.
Petrol and diesel
The price of oil has fallen by around 15% so far this year to just over $60 a barrel, and is on track for its worst performance since 2020.
Prices are expected to be further dampened next year by several major oil projects that are coming on stream in various countries. Demand from China, one of the world’s biggest oil users, is also expected to grow more slowly next year due to its huge fleet of electric vehicles, which has sharply reduced petrol demand.
This all spells good news for drivers as the price of a litre of petrol and diesel on Irish forecourts should remain close to €1.75 or a bit below.
Banking
Next year sees the launch of Zippay, the new mobile payment service from the three main Irish banks.
The service will allow customers to instantly transfer or request money, as well as split bills, simply by using the mobile number of a contact who is also signed up. So no need for IBANs or to set up a new payee.
In other words, a bit like Revolut. But will it be a success and should Revolut be worried?
It’s difficult to say until we see how Zippay performs in real life: how fast it is, how intuitive it is, and whether it offers any meaningful analytics.
Zippay will be built into the main banks’ apps, but these tend to go down for routine maintenance far more often than Revolut. And the Bank of Ireland app in particular has a long history of intermittent issues. If people find the service unreliable, they’ll likely stick with what they know.
That said, most people currently send money to others through Revolut only after topping up from their AIB, Bank of Ireland or PTSB account. For many, it could be quicker and simpler to just send money directly using Zippay and skip the extra step.
So, the jury is still out on whether Zippay will be a major success. But more choice is always good for consumers.
Household energy costs
No one needs reminding that gas and electricity prices remain high.
Gas prices are still around double the level they were at before the war in Ukraine broke out. While electricity prices are around 70 to 80% above pre-war levels. Indeed, most of the main electricity suppliers (bar Electric Ireland, Yuno Energy and Prepaypower) hiked their electricity prices by between 10 and 15% on average in the autumn.
So will prices fall in 2026 and provide some much-needed relief to households?
Don’t bet on it. But they shouldn't go up either.
Wholesale electricity prices are still around double what would, until recently, have been considered normal levels. This doesn’t look like changing much over the coming year. What's more, around 50% of our electricity bill is now made up of other charges outside of the wholesale cost of energy. These include charges for the management and expansion of the grid, suppliers' operating costs, and fees to have gas power plants on standby for when there is a drop in renewable output. And none of these charges look like falling. Indeed the grid requires huge investment so some of these charges will even increase over the coming years.
Suppliers like Bord Gais Energy, SSE Airtricity, Energia and Flogas, which all hiked their electricity prices in autumn may be able to reverse some of the hike in 2026. But this will just leave prices back where they were at the start of this year.
For gas, wholesale prices also remain high but they're down around 25% compared to last year. So there is a possibility of some price falls next year if the trend holds. But some of this will be negated by another increase in the carbon tax next May. That will add another €20 or so to the average annual gas bill.
A new energy supplier is also rumoured to be entering the Irish market next year. This would obviously be good for competition and help put some downward pressure on prices. So we'll see...
Mortgages
2025 continued to see the European Central Bank (ECB) cut interest rates several times, which fed through into lower mortgage rates in Ireland. And these are now at their lowest level since spring 2023.
At present, no further big movement in rates is expected from the ECB in 2026. There could be one further cut or perhaps a small increase towards the end of next year. So mortgage rates are unlikely to change too much next year.
The biggest mortgage news next year is likely to be the entry of Revolut into the Irish mortgage market which has the potential to shake things up a bit.
Remember, whether you're looking to buy, move, or switch your mortgage over the coming year, you can compare interest rates across all lenders on bonkers.ie using our free mortgage calculator.
Savings
Falling mortgage rates saw the main banks continue to cut their savings and deposit rates in 2025, though perhaps not as much as had been expected.
And next year will see more choice for savers as MoCo and Avant Money have both entered the savings and deposit market, proving some much needed competition. This, coupled with the fact the ECB is unlikely to lower rates much further, if at all, should see savings and deposit rates remain fairly steady in 2026.
Regardless of what happens to rates, make sure your money is working as hard as you do. Don't leave it lying in your current account or easy access demand deposit account earning a pittance in interest.
You can easily find the best return for your money on bonkers.ie.
Use our savings comparison tool to compare rates from the likes of AIB, Bank of Ireland, PTSB, Trade Republic, Raisin, Bunq and more in just minutes.
Health insurance
2025 saw the three main health insurers (VHI, Irish Life, and Laya) announce multiple price hikes. It had been hoped that Level Health's entry into the market might cause something of a mini price war, but as we warned at the time, this was always unlikely to be the case.
And 2026 will start off on a bum note for Irish Life customers as the insurer will increase its prices by an average of 5% from 1st January — its fourth price hike in just over a year.
Come the start of the New Year, when the vast majority of people renew their plans, policyholders could be looking at premium increases of 10 to 15% as customers will be hit with two or three price hikes at once.
And in more bad news, next April will see the stamp duty on health insurance policies go up, meaning more price hikes in 2026 are almost guaranteed.
Communications
Broadband, mobile and TV services will all become more expensive next year.
In 2021 and 2022 many telecommunications providers started announcing inflation-busting price increases under so-called "annual price adjustments".
From April, Eir, Vodafone and Three customers will all see their bills go up. However new legislation means customers now have the choice to cancel their contracts if they're faced with a a mid-contract price hike.
However households can beat these increases by switching with lots of good deals on offer from all the main providers to new customers.
And many streaming services are likely to increase in price yet again as streaming services continue to spend a fortune on producing more and more content for insatiable viewers. Spotify customers will also likely see their plans go up by another €1 or €2 a month.
