Inflation has seriously damaged household budgets, causing 52% of Italians to cut their expenditures on food or opt for lower quality products, the research shows. Among people with lower incomes, this figure has reached 60%.
Alcohol and confectionery products have been abandoned by 44% of Italians. Almost 40% of people have opted out of buying sausage goods, fish and meat. Due to high prices, a third of Italians can no longer afford baby food.
Over 60% of respondents believe the situation will not change in 2023.
Coldiretti’s president, Ettore Prandini, stressed that challenges met by households directly affect businesses, leading to increased costs. He specified that 13% of agriculture firms were forced to shut down, while 34% of companies are still operating at a loss, due to high prices.
Prandini added that three million Italians now have to apply for food relief, use soup kitchens for the poor or receive free food stamps.
The energy crisis in Europe has also taken its toll on Italy, the research said. According to the survey, 50% of Italians use electric stoves less frequently or do not use them at all, the same goes for 35% of gas stove owners. Among the poor, the percentages are higher – 54% and 51%, respectively.
Moreover, the research indicated that 55% of Italians do not use their heaters as much as before. Electric devices, including irons, fans, washing machines and vacuum cleaners, are also turned on less frequently.
In August, Russia stopped gas supplies to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline, citing Germany’s reluctance to return a gas turbine to Russia after its maintenance. In late September, underwater blasts seriously damaged the pipelines of the Nord Stream network in the Baltic Sea, preventing any future supplies until the repair work is done.
Decreased Russian gas supplies and other disruptions to exports caused by Western sanctions have led to a rapid growth in inflation and energy prices in the European Union, affecting millions of households across all member-states.