Italian spending changes, cultural spending drops, ready meals boom

More ready meals, now almost inevitable for the lunch break and beyond, and less clothing and footwear. Over the last ten years, Italians' consumption has changed profoundly, reflecting new habits, but also absorbing the - growing - trend in prices.

On average, spending on food is now 25% higher than 10 years ago. For food and non-alcoholic drinks, the monthly outlay went from 441 euros per month in 2015 to 552 euros in 2025, equal to an increased annual expense of 1,326 euros per family.

The most significant increase concerns ready meals and food preparations, which in the period recorded a boom of 254%, equal to a greater expenditure of 307 euros per year per household, while on coffee and cocoa families spend on average 67% more (+99 euros per year), and almost +38% for oils and fats (+65 euros per year); for meat and vegetables spending rises by almost 20%, +21% sugar and sweets, +17% milk, eggs and cheeses, +14% bread. Codacons does the math, based on recent ISTAT data between 2015 and 2025.

However, the increase in spending, the association specifies, does not mean that Italians' pantry is fuller today. "The heavy price increases that have affected the food sector in recent years must be considered, including climate changes that have caused the prices of raw materials to skyrocket (from coffee to cocoa), the war in Ukraine which has led to increases in cereals, dairy products and oils, and the high cost of energy dumped on the final price lists to the public".

In fact, in the same period non-food expenditure recorded a much more limited increase of +8.4%: here some items even recorded a decrease. Compared to 10 years, spending for the recreation, entertainment and culture sector decreases by 16.7%, equal on average to a lower outlay of 253 euros per year per family - calculates Codacons - that for clothing and footwear drops by -9% (-125 euros per year), while spending on tobacco and alcoholic beverages is reduced by 4.1% (approximately -22 euros per year). For housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, each family spends approximately 11% more (+1,180 euros per year), +10.7% for transport (+341 euros per year). The most substantial increase, however, is recorded for the accommodation and catering services item, for which families spend a third more than 10 years ago (+33.7%, +495 euros per year). "And certainly not because Italians travel more: the tourism sector, thanks to the Covid pandemic and high bills, is among those that have recorded the strongest price increases in recent years", concludes the association.