News
Newsletter - August 2025
New Policy Brief on Cost of Living
On 4 July the Centre published a new Policy brief Cost of Living. The Brief brought together a wide range of data. Key points –
- Opinion surveys show that the cost of living is regarded as the most important issue facing Jersey.
- The cost of living in Jersey is at least 10% higher than in the UK. House prices are 50% higher than in the south east of England and groceries are 14% more expensive than in the UK.
- Government policy directly increases prices in some areas including taxis and housing.
- Actions to reduce the cost of living would be easing the planning constraints on housebuilding and encouraging low-cost retailing.
Rate of inflation increases slightly but lower than a year ago
The Jersey RPI increased by 2.6% in the year to June 2025, 0.3 percentage points more than in the year to March 2025 (2.3%) but 2.4 percentage points less than a year ago (5.0% in June 2024). The rate of inflation in Jersey was 1.5 percentage points lower than the UK comparable figure. The RPI data has been included in an updated version of the Centre’s Policy Brief Economic Trends.
House prices continue to fall
Second quarter house price figures were published on 31 July. Average house prices in 2025 Q2 were 1.4% lower than a year earlier and 14.3% lower than the peak in 2022 Q3. In real terms the reduction was 26.1%. Average rents in 2025 Q2 were 3.0% lower than a year earlier and 6.2% lower than the peak in 2022 Q3. In real terms the reduction was 19.0%. The Centre’s Policy Brief Housing has been updated to include the latest figures.
Number of births continues to fall
In the first half of 2025 there were 334 births in Jersey, 4% fewer than in the first half of 2024. Deaths have shown the opposite trend. 457 deaths were recorded, an increase of 4% on a year earlier. Deaths therefore exceeded births by 123 compared with 76 in 2024. In 2024 births fell by 10% compared with 2023 so the trend is continuing although at a slower rate. The figures have been included in an updated version of the Centre’s Policy Brief Population Policy.
Carbon neutral roadmap progress report published
On 30 July, the Government published its Carbon Neutral Roadmap Progress report July 2025. The report lists 32 actions; 13 of these are classed as amber “work commenced but has missed or is at risk of not meeting the target or timeline”, and one as red “work has not yet started or is cancelled”.
The Centre’s comprehensive Policy Brief Carbon neutral roadmap has been updated to include the summary of the progress report. The Brief concludes that “The target of reducing emissions by 68% compared to the 1990 baseline by 2030 cannot be achieved. This would require an annual 6.8% reduction in emissions whereas the figures for the two most years for which figures are available are 2.9% in 2022 and 0.2% in 2023.”
Draft law to reinstate senators published
The draft law to implement the decision to reinstate senators and reduce the number of deputies was published on 7 July. It will be debated on 9 September.
The accompanying report stated that “As sweeping changes were made to the Elections (Jersey) Law 2002 in 2021, it was not simply a case of inserting the word ‘Senator' into the existing Law anywhere that Deputies and Connétables were mentioned. The drafting process has been quite complex, as can be seen by the length of the draft Law.”
The draft law covers election expenses. The limit for senators is proposed to be £4,416 and 13 pence for each elector. The limit for deputies and connétables is proposed to be £2,517 and 13 pence for each elector.