More phones and PCs and less food and clothing. Italians’ consumption has undergone a revolution in the last thirty years. This is revealed by a study by the Confcommercio Research Office that has analyzed, from 1995 to today, where Italian families spend their money. And the result is easy to say: telephony and technology and partly free time win over everything. High cost of living, economic crisis, loss of purchasing value of wages, social and economic instability have slowed down, in three decades, two traditional sectors, clothing (the last summer sales are an example) and food (-10.6%), but have caused a boom in telephony (+6500%), technological products (+962%) and free time (+90% in some areas).
In 2024, families have started to consume more again. On average, per capita spending is calculated at 21,778 euros, up 1.3% on 2023, but below the pre-pandemic level and with a gap of 138 euros on the record reached in 2007. Consumption has recovered but changed. The driving forces in recent years have been telephones (+6500% in real terms) and technological products (+962%). The analysis starts from 1995, five years after the arrival of the first mobile phone in Italy (the iPhone landed here 12 years later). Since then, the increase has been continuous and it has been a real boom. The only other sector that is “playing” is leisure, with recreational and cultural services in particular marking +90%. Spending in the tourism sector: travel and holidays, however, remains slightly below pre-Covid levels, although in strong recovery.
What is striking is everything else. Italians spend 10.6% less on food than three decades ago. And then all the other more traditional purchases: clothing (-3.9%), furniture and household appliances (-3.5%). Electricity and gas consumption is also decreasing (-16.6%). The weakness of consumption in the clothing sector is also highlighted by the “alarming” data from Federmoda Confcommercio on the summer sales. In the first half of the year, the decline in the fashion sector was 4.6% and in the month of promotions (July), the decrease in sales exceeded 8%.
Looking to 2024 in particular, the +5.6% compared to 2023 of the travel and holidays category emerges (720 euros, against 681.9 last year and 678.6 in 2007) and the +8% of telephony (153.4 euros, against 142 the year before but above all almost ten times more than the 16.1 of seventeen years ago). The +4.5% of audiovisual products is also notable: 229.5 euros against 219.5 last year and 67.2 in 2007. And then Leisure in general: in 2024 the per capita expenditure is 1560 euros, 1.3% more than last year (1538.8 euros). Compared to 2007 (1302.1 euros) today practically 258 euros more are spent per year.
“This year, leisure consumption and tourism will make a strong contribution to growth. But our economy is still in a phase of uncertainty. Much will depend on the stability of employment, the reduction of inflation and the investments of the PNRR. And above all on the full implementation of the tax reform that can and must support family incomes and consumption”, commented Carlo Sangalli, president of Confcommercio.
