In September, inflation was confirmed at 5.3% on a yearly basis, but for less well-off families it remained higher than average. Istat releases the definitive data on the increase in prices and reports that the poorest families remain the most penalized by the rise in prices with 6.7% in the third quarter compared to the average 5.8% and 5.6% for the richest groups, even if the gap is reduced compared to 2022 and compared to the first two quarters of the year.
In September the national consumer price index for the entire community (Nic), including tobacco, increased by 0.2% on a monthly basis and by 5.3% on an annual basis, from +5.4% in the month previous. The prices of food, home and personal care goods, i.e. the so-called shopping cart (from +9.4% to +8.1%) and those of high-frequency purchase products ( from +6.9% to +6.6%). The inflation acquired for 2023 is equal to +5.7% for the general index and +5.2% for the underlying component. The harmonized index of consumer prices (HIPC) increased by 5.6%. Istat reports that inflation measured by the IPCA remains higher for families with lower spending capacity but that in any case the slowdown in inflation is more marked for the first of the two groups thanks to the deceleration in the prices of goods. «The further slowdown in general inflation in the third quarter of 2023 (from +7.8% in the second quarter to +5.8%) – underlines Istat – is determined by the dynamics of the prices of goods, in particular of energy and concerns all groups of families. Service prices also slowed compared to the previous quarter, although to a lesser extent. Since goods have a greater impact on the expenses of less well-off families and vice versa services weigh more heavily on the budgets of wealthier ones, the slowdown in inflation is larger for families in the first group than for those in the fifth group”.
In particular, for families with lower spending capacity, inflation decelerates from +9.4% in the second quarter to +6.7% in the third quarter, while for those with the highest spending capacity it goes from +7.1% of the previous quarter at +5.6%. Therefore, the inflationary differential between the first and fifth classes is reduced to 1.1 percentage points. In the first quarter of the year the less well-off families had an inflation of 12.5% compared to 8.2% of the more well-off ones (9.5% average inflation for all families). In 2022, faced with an average price increase of 8.7%, the poorest families had to face increases of 12.1% and the wealthiest ones 7.2%.