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Confesercenti, since the beginning of Covid it lost 59.2 billion of consumption
Consumption does not recover. And six months after the start of the confinement and the emergency, the balance remains negative: between March and August of this year, Italian families spent more than 2,300 euros less on goods and services than in the same period last year. , for a total of 59.2 billion euros of purchases ‘disappeared’ since the beginning of the Covid crisis. Estimate it is Confesercenti. After the blackout in March and April due to the stoppage of activities, consumption slowly resumed. The data we have so far indicate that household spending, four months after the “reopening”, has not yet returned to a well-defined path of growth and recovery, explains Confesercenti. Even after the restart of activities, in fact, Italians continued to cut back on purchases: compared to the same period last year, in the six months from March to August, the average expenditure on non-food items fell by 1,170 euros per family . Spending on clothing and footwear fell mostly (-278 euros in six months, for a total of -7 billion euros), but there are also real collapses in spending on recreation, entertainment and culture (-195 euros, total -5 billion) and furniture and accessories (-166 euros, total -4.2 billion). Consumption in public companies is also sinking, with a fall of 207 euros per household, which is equivalent to a total loss of 5.5 billion. The effects of the emergency on the availability of families also weigh on consumption. The uncertainty, highlighted in the note, increases the propensity to save for some; For others, the crisis has resulted in a substantial fall in labor income, with reductions of -11.3% for private sector wage earners and -13.4% for the self-employed. A difficult context in particular for traditional businesses, if we take into account that the emergency, in addition to reducing the total spending of families, has transferred part of it to online. In six months, traditional distribution registered an overall decrease in sales of 12.1%, which practically fell by half in clothing and furs (-41.1%). Shoe stores (-37.8%) and bars and restaurants (-30.3%) were also very bad. It remains to be understood, according to Confesercenti, “whether the change in spending behavior will be lasting. Several factors may act in the direction of a permanent reduction in household spending or its redistribution: stabilization of agile work at significantly high levels, uncertainty regarding the resumption of the pandemic or worsening economic conditions, the expectation of future tax increases to address the crisis. We must avoid the downward spiral, giving new certainties to families and workers. A result – concludes the note – that we can only achieve by supporting the restart of businesses: a great plan of support and reconversion and digitization of activities is needed, which allows the restructuring of the business fabric to overcome the crisis and grow again and generate employment ” .
