The cost of home heating oil has surged by a phenomenal 50% in the past 12 months - with households now facing €1,000 in extra costs when increased energy bills are combined.
Runaway inflation has also spread to shopping baskets sending food prices rocketing, official figures released yesterday show.
The headline rate has slowed to 5% for January, down from 5.5%, but experts have warned that the dip is only temporary and it's a 'sharply rising trend' which will pick up again.
One of the most startling price increases has been in home heating oil, which is up by an extraordinary 50%, its highest in almost ten years.
The cost for a 1,000-litre tank fill has risen from at least €600 a year ago to around €900 now heaping more pressure on rural families who are not on the gas network.
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In 2020, average prices for 1,000 litres of oil cost in the region of €455-€520 - now it's at least €880-€940.
A spokesman for Cheapest Oil, which monitors prices, said: "Heating oil prices in Ireland have risen around 15% since the start of the year, up by around 12c a litre since the start of January. This increase would add around €210 to the average annual household heating oil bill."
Between January 17 and February 17 alone the price of a 1,000-litre tank of kerosene has gone up more than €60, from an average of €849.54 to €910.51, a 7% increase in just a month. Gas prices are up 27% and electricity up 22%, adding at least another €400 to bills in a year, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office.
The last time inflation was this high was in June 2001 when it hit 5.3% thanks to boom-time house price rises of 15%. Energy prices then were rising at 4.8% a year, compared to more than 27% now.
With consumers now seeing 14 months of non-stop price rises, KBC Bank chief economist Austin Hughes warned that hikes are not over yet.
'Inflation should pick up in coming months, with the unpredictable evolution of energy costs determining how far and how fast before easing later in the year,' said Mr Hughes.
Drink prices are also up sharply: beer is up almost 14% and spirits are up almost 11%. It means a 70cl bottle of Jameson whiskey has gone up by nearly €3, from €25.70 a year ago to €28.50 now and a 15-can slab of Heineken has risen from €24.60 a year ago to €28 now.
Increased energy prices will add around €207 a year to the annual electricity bill and €200 to gas. An Electric Ireland customer paying standard rates their electricity bill is now around €1,300 a year - an increase of around €207.
ANNUAL PRICE INCREASES
Home heating oil 50.1% Petrol 29.5% Diesel 32% Beer 13.9% Spirits 10.8% Electricity 22.4%
Gas 29.4% Travel insurance 15.8% Bread 7% Lamb 9.7% Coffee 5.9% Cars 10.9% Hotels/B&Bs 12.8%
A Bord Gáis Energy gas customer's bill is now around €1,000 a year - an increase of around €200.
A dual gas and electricity bill has gone from around €1,893 to €2,300 a year, an increase of €407.
However, some customers with smaller suppliers have seen far bigger increases.
Daragh Cassidy, of utility switching site Bonkers.ie, said although the slight fall in inflation in January is welcome, 'it's still near multi-decade highs'. 'Energy continues to be the main driver of inflation. As we use energy to manufacture and produce almost everything, this feeds through into higher prices in almost every other sector. Gas is still trading on wholesale markets at around four times its 2020 price. So it will be a while before we see any reprieve.'
He added: 'Food inflation is the next big thing to worry about. At 2% it's at its highest level in years and could reach close to 5% over the coming months. This is due to supply chain disruptions due to Covid, a lack of lorry drivers, an increase in Brexit-related tariffs and charges and an increase in the price of fertiliser on the back of soaring gas prices.'
The cost of filling your car increased by 17% in the past year, as fuel prices reach new record highs, AA Ireland figures research found.
The national average price of fuel currently stands at 177.3c per litre for petrol and 167.6c per litre for diesel.
The prices are an increase of 33% for petrol and an increase of 34% for diesel in the past 12 months.
AA spokesman Paddy Comyn said: 'They are now the highest prices AA Ireland has seen since we started recording figures in 1991.'
The cost of filling a car from empty now costs €106 for a common 60-litre tank, while in 2020 cost €76.80, while the average price per litre stood at €1.28.
In 2021, the cost of filling your petrol car amounted to €90.60, when the average petrol price was €1.51.
This amounted to €1,833 for the year, a €279 increase compared to 2020, up 18%.
Mr Comyn added: 'We seem to be stumbling towards €2 a litre with no signs of the Government taking any action on this. We know that the majority of the price is tax... It's now time for action on this because it's hurting the average motorist.'
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