The high prices are widening and there is a warning of an autumn blow, between the rush of energy prices and the leap in fresh food. The double-digit price increases for gas, which beats everyone, and for fuel will push inflation beyond 4% in September.
But not only do bills and fuel costs more, now fruit and vegetables also have a higher price tag. Result: the shopping cart also accelerates and increases by 1.7% in a year, almost double compared to the +0.9% of the previous month, according to preliminary Istat data.
And so consumers launch the alert on the bill that falls on families: on average at least 1,100 additional euros in a year.
ELECTRICITY, GAS AND FUELS.
First and foremost, energy goods are in the dock: their prices in September grew by 22.3% on an annual basis (from +17.1% in August), followed by unprocessed food which increased in price by 5.5% (from +3.8% in the previous month). If we then look at the different typologies, we discover that the blame falls in particular on the prices of regulated energy which are growing by 25.9%, due to the stellar leap of city gas and natural gas on the protected market (+47.2%), while electricity prices on the protected market remain stable (at +9.7%). Electricity and gas on the free market, where other offers are arriving, instead stop at +16.7% and +21.5% respectively. Overall, non-regulated energy products recorded +22.2% and this segment also includes fuels: the lion’s share are the prices of diesel (+34.9%) and heating oil (+38.5%), followed by petrol (+21.8%). Not to mention the latest interventions with the price cap.
AT THE TABLE.
Compared to changes in tariffs and fuels, price growth in the entire food sector is limited (+1.8% per year) but the signs are not as comforting. The acceleration for fresh food, conditioned by the difficult weather conditions recorded in summer, is supported by increases for vegetables, bananas and legumes (+8.4%) and by the trend reversal for fruit (+0.6%). The dynamics of processed foods still remain at slightly negative values (-0.3%), but if the trend remains upwards, the increases are destined to also affect the rest of the production chain and even more so on the table.
ACCOUNTS AT HOME.
This is how consumers deal with the blow to families. For Codacons this is a blow of 1,389 euros per year for a couple with one child, which reaches 1,918 euros for a family with two children. The hot autumn on the price front, for the National Consumers Union, means an average increase in the cost of living of 1,108 euros on an annual basis, “over 10 times the savings due to car tax”, he attacks. Just for eating and drinking, a family with two children finds itself spending 185 euros more per year, Assoutenti calculates: with greater spending for the entire community equal to +3.4 billion euros in a year, with the same consumption. Unfortunately, the associations claim, the escalation of price lists is not over yet. And with the erosion of purchasing power, Confcom and Confesercenti warn, there is a risk of a slowdown in consumption at the end of the year.