Italy consumption: 2024 will see a further polarisation between rich and poor.

What about durable goods consumption in Italy in 2024? Consumption support formulas, such as the zero interest rate, will remain in companies’ plans and budgets for much longer.

In 2024, in fact, we do not expect a natural exploit in durable goods purchases, and, indeed, “we expect the middle class of consumers to be distressed while the low-spending public will reduce spending due to rising interest rates, waiting for a significant drop in inflation before opening their wallets again.

In the meantime, the high-spending public, which nonetheless maintains an ability to save, will not increase spending but will keep it constant,” Claudio Bardazzi, head of the Findomestic Observatory now in its 30th edition and carried out with Prometeia, tells ItaliaOggi. On the sidelines of the presentation of the Observatory’s new results, Bardazzi said that “not only is a polarization of consumption already taking place but, above all, that the gap between high and low spenders is increasing.” Weighing in is not only rising rates but also the scaling back of, for example, the bonus for buying new furniture and large appliances.

Meanwhile, looking forward to 2024, the current year will close by surpassing 75 billion euros for the first time in Italian spending on durable goods (+2.3 percent in volume and +9.4 percent in value, against an average price increase of 7 percent), according to estimates by the company dedicated to consumer credit of the Bnp Paribas Group. “The 2023 turnover is 6 billion more than the previous record of 2019, equaled in 2021,” added Gilles Zeitoun, a.d. and d.g. of Findomestic. “This is a positive result for the consumption of durables, on which inflation certainly has an impact, but also the growing orientation of consumers to the purchase of higher-end goods than in the past, particularly in the auto, home appliances, and telephony sectors.”

In detail, the mobility market recovers 18.8 percent over 2022, with sales of 41.5 billion, thanks to a clear turnaround in the auto sector, which, however, fails to close the gap in volume compared to pre-Covid, as pointed out by Findomestic. Substantially stable is the home sector, which will close 2023 at -0.3 percent to 33.5 billion, with growth of 4.9 percent in major appliances and 2.3 percent for furniture, offsetting declines in electronics (-24.8 percent) and information technology (-6 percent).