It is technology, with PCs and audiovisual and multimedia products, but especially telephones, that has marked a real boom in Italians' consumption in the last 30 years: the former, with an increase in per capita spending in real terms of 786 percent, the latter with an increase of even 5,339 percent. These, in brief, are the main findings emerging from an analysis by the Confcommercio Studies Office on Italian household consumption between 1995 and 2023. The report shows how, within the leisure sector, recreational and cultural services also experienced strong growth (+93 percent). Meals at home (-11.2 percent), furniture and household appliances (-5.1 percent) are falling, and the consumption of electricity and gas (-12.2 percent) is also declining, partly due to the reduction of waste and energy-saving policies; as for overall consumption, in 2022 - with €20,810 per capita - household spending is still below 2019 levels (€20,914), and in 2024 the peak levels of 2007 (€21,365 vs. €21,569) will not be recovered. However, 2023 can be defined as the year of a return to normalcy, thanks mainly to the substantial contribution of the tourism supply chain, which, compared to last year, registers substantial increases in travel, vacations and hotels (+23.6 percent), recreational and cultural services (+9.7 percent), and bars and restaurants (+8 percent). As we await the recovery of export manufacturing, these are the pillars of the tertiary market from which greater economic growth can be derived, hopefully also supported by reforms and investments in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
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