Growth in household spending in Italy will reach a maximum of 0.4% this year – half the increase estimated by the government (0.8%).
This is according to Confesercenti, a trade association that represents Italian operating in trade, tourism and services, handicraft, and small industries.
The slowdown in household consumption is the lowest reported over the last five years and will also affect Italian GDP, which will see an overall drop of €2.1 billion.
Purchasing Power
According to Confesercenti, the decrease in household spending is due to international issues, as well as a lack of growth in families' purchasing power, which has been at the same level for the last eight years.
This situation is affecting both the internal market and related SMEs, with about 360,000 redundancies recorded in recent years, mainly in independent shops.
According to Patrizia De Luise, the president of Confesercenti, the priority is to break the downward trend of the Italian economy in order to dispel the climate of uncertainty and give more guarantees to families and companies.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Alessandra Arosio. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
