Italian households are under stress, with confidence steadily declining: in October, it reached its lowest value since January, according to Istat. Complicated by rising costs of mortgages and basic necessities, the erosion of savings accumulated during the pandemic, and the restart of tax deadlines that had been put on standby during the Covid's blackest period, Italian households' monthly spending contracted by 11 percent compared to 2019. The waivers are across the board: in all spending categories there is a decline in real consumption, excluding housing, which marks a -3% (essentially stable) and remains the top spending item for Italian households, including bills and renovations. Housing in 2022 took in €1,010.44 per month (in 2019, at constant prices, it would have been €1,036.73), distancing itself sharply from spending in food, which between 2022 and 2019 declined by 10%, from €537 in 2019 (revalued to current prices, it was €464 at the time) to €481.8 per month in 2022. The areas in which spending has eroded the most are those furthest removed from basic necessities: the purchase of clothing and footwear, down 22 percent between 2019 and 2022, and the consumption of goods for recreation, entertainment and culture, which fell 37 percent over the period.
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