DECO PROteste's Basket of 63 Essential Foods Now Costs 256.73 Euros, 6.2 Percent More Than in January

The basket of 63 essential foods that the consumer organisation DECO PROteste prices every week rose for a second week running, to 256.73 euros on 11 November. That is 79 cents (0.31 percent) more than a week earlier and 14.91 euros (6.17 percent) more than in the first week of 2026, according to DECO PROteste's own update.

Over a longer stretch the gap is wider. The same basket cost 69.03 euros less (36.78 percent) on 5 January 2022, when DECO began tracking it. Against a year ago it is 11.78 euros (4.81 percent) dearer, a figure from DECO's release as reported by Observador.

What rose most

In the week from 4 to 11 November, the sharpest rises were in crustless sliced bread (up 15 percent, to 2.66 euros), long-grain agulha rice (up 10 percent, to 1.60 euros) and wholegrain cereals (up 9 percent, to 4.44 euros), Observador reported from DECO's figures.

Since the first week of the year, carolino rice has gained 30 percent, to 1.79 euros, while large dried salt cod (bacalhau graúdo) is up 28 percent, or 4.86 euros a kilo, to 21.95 euros a kilo. Tomatoes rose 28 percent, to 2.80 euros a kilo. Gilthead bream (up 20 percent), black scabbardfish (18 percent) and cooking oil (17 percent) follow. Fish stands out on a yearly view too: horse mackerel (carapau) costs 33 percent more than a year ago, at 5.80 euros a kilo, Observador reported.

Since January 2022, the biggest rises are stewing beef (up 120 percent, to 12.80 euros a kilo), large salt cod (107 percent) and eggs (79 percent).

How the basket is measured

Every Wednesday DECO takes the previous day's prices from the main supermarkets that sell online, averages each product across the shops that stock it, and adds up the averages. The 63 items cover meat, fish, frozen food, fruit and vegetables, dairy and groceries such as rice, pasta, oil, sugar and coffee. It is a fixed list of staples, not a measure of what a typical household spends.

What official inflation shows

The Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE, the national statistics institute) confirmed on 11 November that consumer prices rose 3.8 percent in the year to October, driven by energy, which was up 17.4 percent. Food is rising more slowly: unprocessed food was up 3.7 percent and processed food 1.6 percent, according to INE's final October figures. Over the last twelve months, unprocessed food averaged 5.3 percent. Our report on the October flash estimate has more on fuel and tolls.

DECO links this year's increases to higher fuel, energy and fertiliser costs tied to the conflict in the Middle East, and to damage from the January and February storms.

What you can do at the till

• Compare the price per kilo or litre, not the pack price. Shops must show the price per unit of measure next to the selling price on most food, under Decreto-Lei n.º 138/90, as amended by Decreto-Lei n.º 162/99. It is the quickest way to compare a multipack with a single item, or own-brand with a branded product.
• Check which chain is cheapest near you. DECO's free Saber Poupar simulator compares supermarkets for the same basket, by district or municipality.
• Test every "promotion". A discount must be measured against the lowest price the shop charged in the previous 30 days, and the label must show it. Our Black Friday guide explains how to check a deal and where to complain.