We have all noticed: going to the supermarket today weighs much more on our wallet and shopping is no longer a simple daily routine, but a careful and constant budget exercise. In the last four years, food prices have increased by 24.9%, as noted by ISTAT in the latest report on the performance of the Italian economy.
This increase is almost 8 percentage points higher than general inflation in the same period (+17.3%) and weighs especially on low-income families, who allocate a greater portion of their budget to food. According to ISTAT, food represents on average 16.6% of Italian families’ spending, but in less wealthy families the percentage is even higher. So, as the cart empties, the final bill continues to grow.
The products most affected by price increases
Over the last four years, fresh, i.e. unprocessed, products have seen larger increases than processed foods. According to ISTAT, their price rose by 26.2%, compared to +24.3% for processed foods.
Within these overall data, some sectors have experienced particularly significant increases. Vegetable products, for example, saw prices grow by 32.7%, followed by milk, cheese and eggs (+28.1%) and bread and cereals (+25.5%). These numbers show how basic foods, essential for families in Italy, are among the most affected by food inflation.
Looking at individual products, some price increases are very significant, especially when compared with the previous year:
But why these increases?
The main causes of these increases, according to ISTAT, are mainly due to external factors of a global nature. In fact, starting from the second half of 2021, international prices of food raw materials began to grow significantly, driven by the post-pandemic economic recovery. Global demand for food and agricultural products has increased, both due to the need to replenish stocks accumulated during the pandemic and due to the increase in demand for feed and raw materials intended for the production of biofuels.
Added to this pressure on international markets were adverse weather events in important exporting countries, such as Argentina, Brazil and the United States, which contributed to reducing the global supply of agricultural raw materials, further worsening the price increases.
Since February 2022, the invasion of Ukraine and the resulting international sanctions against Russia have triggered a further domino effect: energy costs have increased dramatically, with direct repercussions on agricultural and industrial production processes, and indirectly through the increase in the price of fertilizers and other fundamental inputs for agriculture. These factors combined have led to extraordinary pressure on consumer prices of food in Italy, which has been reflected in both fresh unprocessed and processed products, especially affecting basic necessities.
The consequences on families
Consumer associations, such as Federconsumatori, report how these increases are profoundly changing families’ habits: one in three has had to cut spending on food and drinks in the last year. Food sales by volume decreased by 8.8%, while prices continue to rise, creating a situation where people spend more to get less.
ISTAT data clearly shows how inflation in the food sector far exceeds the general one, forcing more and more families to make difficult choices between quantity, quality and savings.
This dynamic weighs especially on families with medium-low incomes: the increase in prices, combined with substantially stable salaries, progressively erodes purchasing power and fuels inequalities. Consider that, according to Caritas, 23.5% of Italians are in poverty despite working.
As a consequence of all this, eating habits are also changing significantly. The Federconsumatori National Observatory reports that many families reduce their consumption of meat and fish (-16.9%), preferring less expensive cuts and quality; over half of citizens (51%) are looking for offers, discounts or products that are about to expire; while spending in discount stores grows by 12.1%, demonstrating a real repositioning of purchasing behaviour.
