Among employees and pensioners, 35 million Italians will receive the thirteenth month's pay in December, which amounts to 40.7 billion euros. Moreover, the tax authorities, through the withholding of the Irpef, will collect 13.2 billion euros. Therefore, for businesses and the Inps, the Christmas bonus will cost, net of social security contributions, 53.9 billion euros. Compared to last year, the total economic volume of thirteenth month payments has increased by 7 billion, first of all because compared to 2022, the number of employees has increased by almost 400 thousand; the payroll has also increased compared to last year, due to the fact that some important labor contracts have been renewed. Of the 35 million 13th month recipients, 16.1 are pensioners and 18.9 are employees. "It is very difficult," writes the artisans' association Cgia, "to predict what Italians will buy with their 13th month. Given the consumption trend recorded in the first part of the year, it is estimated that the total amount of spending on gifts will remain almost the same as in 2022, or between 7 and 7.5 billion euros from. An amount that compared to 15 years ago has halved, primarily because so many Italians, taking advantage of Black Friday, increasingly anticipate the purchase of Christmas gifts in November".