The real income of EU families grows by just 0.1%, prices soar

Europeans' incomes grow very little so the propensity to save in Italy drops by 1.2% in the second quarter of this year compared to an overall drop of 0.2% in the Old Continent.

Eurostat provides the bill while inflation continues to empty wallets and European families have to deal with incomes growing by just 0.1%. A situation, the one determined by the high cost of living, which is pushing young Europeans into the streets and on which the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, also spoke yesterday: "Geo-economic and geo-political conflicts attack, with inflation and an inactive wage dynamic, the standard of living of citizens", he said at the savings day.

According to the European Statistical Institute, in the second quarter of 2026, real household income per capita increased by 0.1% in the euro area following a similar increase (+0.1%) in the first quarter of 2026.

In the same period, real per capita household consumption increased by 0.3%, after remaining stable in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, energy continues to drive prices and according to the latest Eurostat data, the annual inflation rate in the eurozone in September 2026 was 3.8%, up compared to 3.2% in August and 2.2% in the same month of 2025.

For Italy the latest data is decidedly alarming: +5.4% provisional estimate for October.

So while families are being squeezed by 'hidden taxes' and prices are flying, overall across the EU, real household income per capita increased by 0.1% in the second quarter, after increasing by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2026. At the same time, real household consumption per capita increased by 0.4%, after a decline of 0.1% in the previous quarter.

The first to suffer is the household savings rate: again in the second quarter it decreased by 0.2% in the euro area and by 0.3 percentage points in the EU compared to the previous quarter. in Italy one of the largest contractions: -1.2%.