Istat has updated the 2024 basket for calculating inflation with the Nic indices (for the entire national community) and Foi (for families of workers and employees), taking into account changes in family spending habits. The range of weighed products rises to 1,915 (elementary products) from 1,885 in 2023. Many new features: among the newly introduced products there are “all you can eat” meals but also devices for the dehumidification and purification of air and air conditioners. Water aerobics, football and five-a-side football, tennis and padel courses also join the basket. Furthermore, the hair straightener, the electric razor and the bed warmer are also introduced.
Regarding these innovations, there are many doubts among consumer associations which register an insignificant impact on food.
Inflation rising again
Meanwhile, inflation rears its head again: according to Istat data, in January retail prices reversed course and began to rise again, marking a +0.8% on an annual basis while on a monthly basis the increase was 0.3%. The shopping cart increases by +5.4%. “The rise in inflation in January is a cause for concern and must lead the Government to adopt effective countermeasures, especially in the primary sectors for families.” Assoutenti states this, commenting on the data just released by Istat. «The so-called shopping cart, i.e. the goods most purchased by families, increases by +5.4% and tensions are confirmed in the food sector, whose prices, including drinks, increase by +5.9% in January – explains the president Gabriele Melluso – This means that just to put food on the table a family with two children finds itself spending 474 euros more on an annual basis». «On the price front, it is therefore still a black crisis, and the Government must study countermeasures such as the anti-inflation basket implemented last year, in order to protect family incomes and support spending by counteracting the growth of retail prices» concludes Melluso.
The remodulation of the basket
Returning to the new basket, the entry into the basket of some services increasingly used by Italians, such as recreational and sports courses and “all you can eat” meals, is good for Codacons, but doubts are expressed by the association regarding the weight assigned by ‘Istat to food goods within the basket for calculating inflation. «More and more Italians are enrolling in sports courses, as in the case of padel, a sport that is spreading in our country, and the number of families who have their children practice football courses is growing – explains Codacons – In this sense the changes to the Istat baskets fully reflect the habits of Italians and can help to better represent the trend in retail prices and the effects on family budgets”.
«If on the one hand, Istat’s choice to carry out a different weighting of the weight of energy products is also correct, as a result of the end of the protected electricity and gas market, and to provide a new consumption segment for non-vulnerable customers who December 2023 they had not yet chosen an offer from the free market, on the other hand we express doubts about the weight assigned by Istat to the item “Food” – continues Codacons – These are in fact primary goods that families cannot do without, and which continue to suffer significant price increases with serious effects on consumption and purchasing power”.
The National Consumers Union looks at Auto TPL: «Excellent news. Finally, one of our requests has been accepted, namely that of using the Ivass database for motor liability insurance, which is truly useful, however, if the price increases at provincial level are published. The changes for the recording of electricity and gas are also good, which take into account the price trend both for the vulnerable and for those who, at the expiry of the protected market, have not made any choice, therefore switching to gas at the placet in derogation and for the light of the Gradual Protection Service. Even in this case, however, the integration will be even more fruitful and relevant for consumers if any increases are communicated at a territorial level” states Massimiliano Dona, president of the National Consumers Union.
«Beyond the other entries in the basket, we hope that with the new year Istat has accepted our request to communicate on a monthly basis the increases of many products which until last year were recorded together with other items, for example dried pasta, coffee at the bar, diapers, bathing establishments, school supplies” continues Dona. «As for the weights, it is positive that that of the Food Products and Non-Alcoholic Beverages division increased, even if only by 0.3%, less than we expected given the revaluation effect. If the decline (-4%) in the Housing, water, electricity and fuels item was expected, given that energy prices have fallen compared to the peaks of the fourth quarter of 2022, there are doubts about the reduction in the water supply items ( -8.8%), waste collection (-11.2%) and real rents (-6.5%)” concludes Dona.