ROMA (ITALPRESS) – In 2026 real expenditure per capita per consumption reached 23,261 euros (was 19,877 euros in 1995), with an increase of 314 euros compared to 2025, exceeding pre-Covid levels but also the peak of 2007 (22.975 euros), the beginning of the great global financial crisis. The recovery of demand, also favoured by the progressive growth of employment and incomes, has not allowed, however, full recovery of consumption levels for all segments of expenditure. This is what emerges from an analysis of the Confcommercio Study Office on the consumption of Italian families 1995-2026. Technology, telephony and computer science guide the ranking of Italian consumption habits with a “monster” growth of per capita expenditure, compared to 1995, of almost 3.200%. The consumption of leisure time, in particular for cultural and recreational services increased by 137%, is very much supported. Except for these two compartments, few other items show structural expansion signals.
It is the case of catering (+25.3%) and expenses for travel and holidays (+17.2%) which, however, have not yet returned to pre-Covid levels. In a slight decline, however, domestic power (-3.5% over the last three decades), also due to the demographic dynamics and the growth of meals outside the house, while the less dynamic segments confirm clothing and footwear (+6.2%), whose demand appears today more oriented towards garments with less intrinsic value (the so-called fast fashion), and that of furniture and objects for the house (+5.9%). The demand for traditional goods remains, therefore, contained in 2026, an indication of the prudence of families mainly dictated by the uncertainty that characterizes the current economic context. Discourse aside for domestic energy (-37.4%) in substantial contraction for more careful consumer behaviour, but also thanks to a growing use of energy-saving products and systems.
Despite the strong uncertainties generated by the conflict in the Middle East and the fear of a marked slowdown in the economy, the Italian conjunctural framework has proved more favourable than expected. In our country, the presence of a productive context that continues to show signs of improvement has favoured the permanence of positive dynamics of the labour market with the employees who have reached the maximum historical (24.3 million), while unemployment has declined to the minimum, favoring the growth of disposable income of the families. This trend supports the recovery of consumption, which continues, albeit gradually, along with the good trend of tourism, mainly driven by foreign demand. A scenario, therefore, substantially positive even if elements of uncertainty remain linked to the evolution of the geopolitical framework and the possible reflections on energy prices and inflation in the final part of the year. In light of all this and the results of the first half, the Confcommercio Study Office estimates for 2026 a GDP growth of 0.9%, consumption of 1.2% and an average inflation of 2.7%, while providing a second half less dynamic than the first.
– photos of repertoire IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
