Utility bill statistics: Brand loyalty costs Australians $7.5 billion in 2024

It's been another tough year amid a cost-of-living crunch, including for many households hoping for rate cuts from the RBA, only to be disappointed.

The cost of essentials like energy, mobile, and broadband has climbed or stayed stubbornly high, leaving little reprieve.

Finder's end-of-year report for utilities captures price trends in 2024, what to expect in the new year and ways to save. Plus, we look at how much loyalty tax Aussies have paid – the extra cost of sticking with pricier plans rather than shopping around.

It'll give you the nudge you need to make changes, pronto!

NBN loyalty tax and price changes

Aussies are paying over

$1.2 billion

in loyalty tax for NBN

We crunched the numbers to uncover how much Aussies are really paying in loyalty tax for broadband across basic (NBN 12 and NBN 25), standard (NBN 50) and fast speed tiers (NBN 100, NBN 250 and NBN 1000)

Here's how we did it. We took the cheapest monthly plan in each speed tier on Finder as of December 2024 (no discounts included) and compared it to what people are actually shelling out on average, based on Finder's Consumer Sentiment Tracker.

NBN prices shift in 2024, faster speeds still king

NBN pricing has had the most dramatic shift in recent memory.

Providers began to shake up their NBN pricing in October 2023, right before the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) officially gave NBN Co the green light for its new pricing framework.

ISPs had to pass on price hikes to customers, with basic to standard speeds seeing price jumps, while faster speeds got cheaper.

Fast-forward to 1 July 2024, and NBN Co increased wholesale prices for residential plans, pushing up costs for providers to buy bandwidth.

This followed a mixed bag of changes, with several providers increasing prices across most of their speed tiers.

Looking at price trends from 35 of the 43 fixed-line NBN providers in our database through to November 2024, it's clear that lower speed tiers have taken the biggest hit.

Snapshot of average monthly prices for NBN plans

Wondering how much fixed-line NBN plans now cost per month? Here's a look at the average prices across each of the speed tiers as of December 2024.

*We've combined NBN 100/20 and NBN 100/40 under the one speed tier.

Trends beyond price changes and 2025 outlook

Here's a quick recap of what's happened in the NBN space this past year:

• Fibre expansion in full swing: Over 2.7 million homes and businesses can now order full fibre upgrades, with demand booming according to NBN Co. Around 530,000 upgrades have already been ordered nationwide.
• Faster speeds for regional areas: More than 700,000 regional homes and businesses can now access faster Fixed Wireless speeds, with up to 400Mbps available across 80% of the network.
• Ultrafast internet milestone: Over nine million homes and businesses can now access Ultrafast speeds, up to 1000Mbps.

What's in store for 2025?

• NBN Co is boosting its network: By December 2025, over 10 million Aussie homes and businesses will have access to superfast internet, with speeds up to 1 Gig per second.
• We're getting even faster speeds in September 2025: NBN 100 will increase its speed from 100/20Mbps to 500/50Mbps, making it five times faster. NBN 250 will jump from 250/25Mbps to 750/50Mbps, and NBN 1000 will double its upload speed to reach up to 1000/100Mbps.

Expert insight

"This year NBN Co made remarkable progress in our mission to lift the digital capacity of Australia. From the millions of premises across the nation now eligible for a full fibre upgrade, and introducing the fastest wholesale NBN Fixed Wireless speeds ever offered, to now offering NBN Ultrafast speeds to more than 9 million homes and businesses. We are not only meeting the constantly growing data demands of today but also making sure Australians are set up for success far into the future."

Anna Perrin

NBN chief customer officer

Mobile loyalty tax and price changes

Aussies are paying over

$2.4 billion

in loyalty tax for mobile

The average Australian uses around 12.5GB of mobile data each month. We looked at month-to-month mobile plans on Finder offering at least 12.5GB of data and found the average cost was about $43 per month as of December 2024.

Interestingly, our CST shows Aussies are spending an average of $53 a month on mobile plans. This means many people could save by switching to more competitive deals.

Crunching the numbers, we estimate Australians are paying a combined $2.4 billion in loyalty tax – the extra cost of sticking with pricier plans rather than shopping around.

We also broke down average monthly costs for low, medium, and high data users. It's a handy way to see how your plan compares based on your data needs.

Telstra, Optus and Vodafone plan shake-ups

Unless you're on a phone repayment plan, going with one of the major telcos could be hurting your hip pocket unless you're with them for certain benefits such as discounted Optus Sport.

Here's a look at how their prepaid and postpaid plans have changed between 2023 and 2024.

Telstra increased prices across its full mobile plan line-up

Telstra's Upfront mobile plans went up by $3-4 a month in 2024.

It also raised prices between 2022 and 2023 when the same plans used to cost between $58 and $89 a month.

Its 7- and 28-day expiry prepaid plans have increased by $1 to $9, while its long-expiry plans saw a price rise of $20-$30.

Optus raised postpaid prices. Will prepaid users be next?

Optus cut its postpaid plans from four to three to 'simplify' its range, while also raising prices.

It ditched the $69 a month plan which came with 220GB. This was originally the Optus Large Choice Plus Plan.

There's a good chance prepaid customers will be hit by some sort of change, potentially even early next year.

Vodafone switched pricing across both prepaid and postpaid plans

At the start of 2024, Vodafone increased the prices of its postpaid plans by $4 a month.

A few months later, it raised the prices of its 28-day expiry plans by $5 and added an extra 5GB.

Its 185-day plan went up by $10 and 10GB - $160 for 90GB. Vodafone also threw a new 365-day plan into the mix.

What can we expect in 2025?

One of the biggest news from the past year was the ACCC giving Optus and TPG/Vodafone's network-sharing deal the green light for early 2025.

TPG will gain access to 2,444 Optus mobile network sites in regional Australia. Its 4G footprint will increase from 96% to 98.4% of the population.

Regional Aussies will also benefit from Optus's plan to accelerate its 5G rollout by 1,500 5G sites by 2028 and 2,444 by the end of 2030.

Energy loyalty tax and price changes

Aussies are paying over

$4 billion

in loyalty tax for energy

It's easy to get stuck in a loyalty tax loop with energy plans as electricity and gas aren't easy products to understand, so we tend to switch far less often.

Want to know how much we're paying in loyalty tax because of that? Finder took a closer look at the four major states that have been impacted the most by price hikes since 2022: New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Queensland.

We looked at their average quarterly bills using our CST data and compared them to the cheapest single-rate tariff plans available on Finder as of December 2024.

To keep things simple, we used one postcode from each state as an example.

The differences are more obvious in VIC and NSW, with SA and QLD residents coming out in front, paying less or around the same on average than the cheapest plan on Finder.

It's interesting to note that SA has some of the highest electricity prices in the country. Yet, both SA and QLD are leaders in rooftop solar adoption, which might explain why electricity bills are lower in these states.

One limitation of our data is that we don't ask households whether they have solar installed.

This could explain why it appears that residents in these states aren't facing a loyalty tax. On top of that, Queensland households recently received a generous $1,000 energy rebate from their state government.

Nationally, Australian households have also been getting quarterly instalments of the federal government's $300 energy rebate since 1 July 2024. So while our bills might still feel high, these rebates are likely offering some relief.

Electricity price changes in 2024

The Australian Energy Regulator's 2023-2024 Retail Market Report is out, and we've pulled together the key highlights and trends for you.

Regulated price caps decreased in most areas on 1 July 2024:

• SA: Down by 2.2%
• NSW: Down by 0.2% to 0.9%
• South East QLD (Energex): Increased by 4.9%
• VIC: Dropped by around 6% across all network regions

Regions not covered by the DMO, including regional QLD (Ergon Energy), the ACT, and TAS, experienced price increases in 2023–24.

Between July and September 2024, market offer prices dropped by 1% to 4% in DMO regions and 2% to 4% in Victorian distribution networks.

Switching from a standing offer to a typical market offer could save you annually:

• ACT: 9% (~$200)
• NSW: 7%–10% ($150 to $255)
• South East QLD: 9% (~$230)
• SA: 5% (~$120)
• VIC: 10%–11% ($140 to $300)

Households that don't shop around or negotiate new contracts with their energy provider are more likely to remain on a standing offer.

You could save money with your current energy provider

Here's an interesting takeaway from the report: Customers moving from the median offer to the best offer from their current retailer could also save more.

The median price is the middle point in the range of market offers - half are cheaper, and half are more expensive.

With that in mind, there's a good chance your current provider might have a cheaper plan for you!

They're actually required by law to inform you if they do. Look for a "better offer" message on your bill if a cheaper option is available.

Here's how much you could save by switching to a better deal from your current provider:

• NSW: Save 9%–11% ($190–$220)
• South East Queensland: Save 5% (~$110)
• South Australia: Save 3% (~$70)
• Victoria: Save 0.5%–3% (up to $40)

Price gap widening between providers

The report also highlighted that between 2023 and 2024, the gap between the cheapest and most expensive market deals grew, based on the median price.

For example, in Ausgrid's network, the gap grew from $380 in July 2023 to $490 by June 2024.

In fact, Finder's own research has found there's a $500 to $700* a year difference between the cheapest and most expensive plans in our database.

This increase in pricing variation means there are more options for consumers, but it also highlights the importance of shopping around for the best deal.

*We looked at single rate tariff plans across one postcode in each of the following states: NSW, VIC, SA, QLD, the ACT and TAS.

Expert insight

"Many households and small businesses are interested in learning more about how they can save money on their energy bills and benefit from the energy transition. However, a lot of people tell us it is difficult to find the information they need to take action in the places and formats they use, or from sources they trust. On the bill-saving front, this matters because households and small businesses could be paying less for their energy – but research ECA conducted shows that they aren't making the changes that would help them get the best 'bang for buck'. We want to see them have access to easily understood information that helps them manage their consumption and costs."

Liz Stephens

Energy Consumers Australia general manager, public affairs & strategy

Expert insight

"We're seeing continued customer distaste for tariffs where the network company levies an extra charge based on a customer's peak energy load. These are hard for most customers to measure. We favour a world in which network companies invest in a combination of tariff incentives – not penalties – and battery storage to smooth out the demand on the local grid."

Adrian Merrick

Founder & CEO of Energy Locals

Written by

Mariam Gabaji

Editor I Tech and utilities expert

Mariam Gabaji is an editor and tech and utilities expert at Finder with 12+ years of experience as a journalist. She's committed to helping households cut through the industry jargon and save money on their bills. Her expertise is often featured in media including the ABC, Yahoo Finance, 9News, 7News, A Current Affair, The Guardian, SBS and Money Magazine. See full bio

Mariam's expertise

Mariam has written 305 Finder guides across topics including:

• Energy
• Mobile
• Broadband
• Consumer tech